I haven't had a lot of time to really connect with my friends since school got out, so I decided to text a few of them recently. I got some crazy results.
Friend #1: He LOVES music. He's crazy about it and he's crazy good too, he'd deny that though. He was a good Christian and I really respected and admired his commitment to the Lord. He wanted to go to Millikin University for music education. He wanted to teach music and share his love, enthusiasm, and joy for it with others. Well, about a month ago, Friend #1 and I broke up after 10 months together. I hadn't really talked to him since but I decided to text him and see what was crackin'. The results were astounding. He said that lately, he's been digging more and more into the Bible. In fact, at the time I texted him, he had just wrapped up a 2 and a half prayer and reading session. He said that he'd been praying a lot about his future. He said he feels like God is calling to go into youth ministry, not music. WOW! I was shocked. If you know this guy, you know that he runs on music, but I know that all that passion and energy that he has for music, he will have so much more for God and spreading the His word. He's already touched so many peoples' lives, and I know he will touch so many more.
Friend #2: I hadn't talked to her since May 20 on the last day of school. Last I heard, she was wrapped up with some jerk off guy that had one thing on his mind... and it certainly wasn't God. She was such a great girl though. Why him?? As much as I tried to be a supportive friend to her, I would be lying if I said I wasn't totally and completely relieved when she told me they broke up. She said she didn't miss him at all and since the break up, she's really been getting into her Bible. How cool is this?? 2 friends in one day! She said she totally understood how I've felt recently since getting into my Bible more. She understood the excitement and fulfillment that God had provided in my life. A friend that understands is priceless.
Friend #3: I haven't known her for very long. We went to church camp together last summer, but she moved to our school this year. We had a class together first semester and she came to my small group most weeks. I still feel like I don't really know her, though. That's something I need to work on... getting to know people more. Not know more people, but know people more. Anyways... I sent her a text just to see how she had been doing since school got out. She said her summer had been crazy. She had been to two retreats in the past two weeks and the day that I talked to her, she was in Arizona on a mission trip. I asked if through all those retreats and mission trips she felt closer to God. She described the same thing that I had felt a gazillion times. She said she was on a total spiritual high after the first retreat but in the past couple of weeks, she's been falling into the "blah hole" as she put it. That burnt out feeling you get after the spiritual high. She said that hearing from me, and all that I've experienced lately had really inspired her and she was going to try harder to make that daily time for God. As she put it, "I have too much of Him in my heart, to let it all go to waste"
Friend #4: We haven't talked for a year. We used to be inseparable, but something happened and we grew apart. She sent me a text today. "I miss our friendship, so can we forget about all the drama and start being friends again?" What an awesome opportunity. She's kinda flirted with Christianity before, but she's never made the commitment. We started off with typical girl talk, chatting about boys and such. She told me that she's been getting involved with this guy, but there's a couple of problems; He's going to college in the fall, he'll be 18 in a week or two, and her parents hate him. She said she was going to have to end, but she REALLY liked this guy. I saw my opportunity, I told her that I normally wouldn't do this, but I'd really changed in the past weeks and I suggested that she take a rest and open her Bible. Just make 10 minutes a day or whatever and just give it a chance. She confided in me that, over the past year, she had been doing a lot of thinking and she'd come to the conclusion that religion was a bunch of bologna, and she believed that god was not real. She was happy for me, but it wasn't for her. OUCH!! Prayer for the both of us, please.
Friendships are important in this life. Christian friendships are like nothing else. We need people in our life that will hold us accountantable for our actions. We need those people who will lift us up and support us through good times and bad. I remember my grandfather telling me when I was little, "You have to be a friend to get a friend." I know that I am lucky to have the friends that I do. I am so excited to hear how their faith has grow, but Friend #4 worries me.
My prayer for today is not only to grow closer to my friends and strengthen our friendship, but it's also to reach out and be a friend to those around me. We have so many opportunities to share about God in our day to day life and we need to take advantage of those. Friend #4 is a reminder of that. I pray that I can work with her and that through me, she will be able to see the glorious works God can do. I pray that God will show his mighty hand and that He will lift her up. Friendships are priceless. Lord, I thank you for the amazing and wonderful friends you have blessed me with. I pray that I can be that same type of friend to those around me.
"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." -Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
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