My phone chimed mid morning at work. It was a friend who wondered if I had time to have lunch at her house. It was the perfect day for it. I needed a break away from work, and stepping into a secure friendship was the best middle of the day.

A few weeks later, I had plans to meet another friend. The weather was nice, so we planned to sit outside and catch up. Again, work was busy, so I had to leave some tasks undone, which often stresses me a bit. It’s a problem. I’m working on it. I made it in time, and we sat on my patio and talked about a variety of topics, including brainstorming ideas and solutions to a couple challenges.

Friendships in the middle are incredibly refreshing. They’re not so much inserted into the middle of everything else. They are a constant, underlying so many other aspects of life. They pop up in what seems like the middle, but they don’t do so accidentally. Friendships take investment. Contact doesn’t need to be constant, but depth matters. Consistency matters. Dependability matters. Then when everything is moving around us, a friend interjects, perhaps not knowing the important timing of a message. We connect and talk. The friend doesn’t need to have the best answer or even a solution at all, but they disturb the circular reasoning and confusion of an often completely unassociated situation. The interruption gives us a breath to pause just long enough to gain perspective.

Friends in the middle provide us stability, reality checks, accountability, and encouragement. And I am thankful for mine.