Friends

All I can say today is..."Friends are Awesome!" If you don't have any, I highly recommend them. I don't mean the ones you go to the movies with, watch each others kids play t-ball, that sort of thing. I mean the kind you can let down your hair with and have a good cry. The kind you'd invite over no matter how messy your house is. The kind that know you're weird and flawed and love you anyway, because in their own qwirky way, they are too.

I am sooooo blessed! God has opened a window and now I can see. I usually have only two or three at the most at any given time. But that's all anyone really needs and probably all we could handle. We are there for each other, rely on each other, call when we're giggly, and call when we're broken.

I've been going through some trials as of late and have found myself in the very uncomfortable position of having to ask for help from friends. Okay, we've all been there. We want to BE that person to offer a shoulder, give advice, do the cheering-up...not RECEIVE it. But let me tell you...I've really had a revelation that just can't adequately be expressed in words...but of course I'll try. The mark of a true friend is someone who makes you feel like they're in the boat with you, not just drawing maps to the shoreline.

I have been so inspired by my sisters! They have each been going through their own trials, whether physical, family, or financial...but readily laid it all aside, when they saw my pain and heard my cry. I think to myself... I want to be like each of them when I grow up! Then, one of them gave me such an eye opener....I AM like them! We're all awesome, amazing, strong women of God! We're all flawed, self-doubting, weak little girls! We are exactly what we need to be for each other...imperfect examples of God's grace!

So, today...let a friend pick up the tab, let a friend listen to your weaknesses and fears, let a friend hold you while you cry. and remember that strength you gain from it. It's the strength you've shared with them....it's God's grace and love coming full circle. How wonderful is His love for us! How marvelous and mysterious!

Be transparent, be an encourager, and expose the "real you"...you'll be surprised at how many friends you'll find along the way!

The tongue is a powerful thing. It seems like every word we speak flows so freely, but then we say words in anger or out of our pain or disappointment. That's when the tongue becomes our own worst enemy. It's supposed to help us understand one another, see into each other's hearts, but instead it deceives us and cuts to our very soul.

Today, I spoke words out of pain and disappointment and hurt a friend. I know this because the friend too used the tongue as a weapon. Isn't that how it goes? Those closest to us can hurt us so easily; so deeply...instead of allowing grace to hold us in our pain. If it were a stranger or even one who was not a fellow believer, I'm certain that grace would have abounded. So, why when we speak to those we care about, those we call brother or sister, why then do we react so?

To say that it's out of pain or self-defense is a cop-out. We can make excuses all day long. I think it's because in every hurtful word we hear, it's that little hint of truth, that stings. It's that fear that the person we've allowed in has discovered and exposed our fatal flaw, our weakness, the ugliness deep inside that we ourselves loath. That's what Satan does to cause strife within The Body. He takes a small element of truth and uses it to tear at one another.

So, what's this all about? I guess I just wanted to share with you what I've learned. Maybe just remind myself that it's okay as long as I can accept the criticisms to grow ...no matter how they come. Maybe just to release some of my pain and my pride. I know I still may react in some cases, but next time, I'm going to try to think about what the words really mean, weigh them, learn from them, and gracefully throw the rest out! :-) I'm going to try harder to be "slow to speak" "slow to anger" and quick to listen with His ears of grace.

You see, the words we release cannot be taken back. They sit out there for Satan to use to taunt us if we let him. If I call attention to my friend's flaws in order to hurt, I've just allowed myself to become a pawn in Satan's game. That's why God so clearly tells us to speak the truth in love. It's not the truth part we have a hard time with....it's the love...our reason for sharing. If I want to restore my friend to God and myself, I must always check my motives...for without love I'm just a clanging cymbal, right?

Remember it's better to be kind than right...it's His love that binds us, that draws us closer to Him...He'll take care of the rest. HE is the truth...He is love.

He speaks through the small things, too...

Isn't it funny how we tend to expect God to speak though a burning bush, from a great cloud, or through a mighty prophet? I know that He speaks to us when we are in need, when we are deep in prayer and seek His guidance. But imagine this...maybe He wants to talk to us all the time!?

This thought was running through my head as I waited outside. I was early for an appointment, and thought I'd sit in my car for a few minutes rather than an impersonal waiting room, to wait. It was a beautiful day and the thought just came to me to ask God to teach me something in those few moments. As many of you know, that can be a dangerous request, but throwing caution to the wind, I took the chance.

As I sat looking at the clouds, the pieces of loose paper flying by, and various people busily on their way to and fro, I thought for a second of whether I was growing or healing. I wondered what speeds up or slows down this process. It was just for a second that my mind wandered to this thought, and immediately I couldn't help but notice a spider on my windshield! It was bright lime green and as tiny as a pinhead. It was crawling across the glass, fighting the breeze, that must have seemed like a hurricane, through it's perspective. It would stop for a second, holding on for dear life, then as the breeze let up, would continue on. It did this several times before reaching the edge of the glass. After it climbed up to the rim, after all that effort and struggle, I thought I saw it get blown away! But instead, what I saw was the lesson.

You see, it quickly had spun a strand. It used the breeze and the webbing and I saw it land safely on a parking meter 10 feet away! It was amazing! In that moment, God taught me so much.

Sometimes, you'll go through trials facing the storm...but if you make it through, and trust in the strength He gives you through His Spirit and hold onto that faith...He can carry you to your destination much more quickly.

That little spider could have avoided the wind. He could have climbed down the car across the concrete and up the pole to the meter all on his own power. It would have taken a very, very long time and would have involved many unseen dangers along the way. But instead, he chose to fight through the wind AND use the very thing he was battling to propel him to his destination! He knew he had a web to hang onto that he could trust, he knew that he had to get himself to the other side where the wind was its strongest, and he knew he had to LET GO!

So...how can I be where I want to be spiritually? emotionally? mentally? How can I get there more quickly? If I let God use the trials, ...work through them, ...rest when I need to, and really trust Him...have faith in His strength... He will even use what was meant for evil...as a blessing to propel me to a higher place with Him.

Take a lesson from the spider, and ride free on the winds and trust in God's strong arms to carry you to safety...just LET GO!