My Friend

There is much to accomplish today, but I wanted to share a little morning greeting with you.

I was conversing with a sweet friend who has been going through some rough times.

I have experienced a fair number of rough times myself throughout my life.

I know we all have.

While thinking about her, I began to ponder the things that made me smile during those hard days and nights. I know you'll guess that my faith in a loving God is number one. My unshakable belief that He is in control, and has a plan for my life that's way bigger than I'm capable of discerning.

Beside that, there were numerous people who brought me joy and comfort, in material ways.

There has always been my daughter, who, throughout all my difficult days, was sunshine in my life. Just the thought that she was there, and that she loved me was reason enough to persevere. The thought that she might be watching how I dealt with my struggles, (oh my!), usually caused me to think about my attitude and demeanor. I am far from perfect, and I know I'm not the best role model, but I will always strive to get through the trial of the month for her sake. Hopefully, when she's an old woman, with much grace and a somewhat dimmer memory, she will think back and say "my mom got up, did what she had to do, and got us through it".

In addition to my daughter, there have been those dear friends who reached out to pull me up from the depths and warm me and give me respite. There have been friends who prayed for me. There have been friends who brought me gifts. There are friends who ran my business when I couldn't. There have been friends who sat and listened to me cry and wail and gnash my teeth. There have been friends who shared their supper table with me. There is a friend who carried me to the hairstylist, because that's what I needed. (There is friend who came and cleaned my house!) Most importantly, there are friends who have believed in me, when I couldn't even believe in myself.

There is something about going through trials that makes us more tender hearted, more understanding, more grace-full, and more willing to see our lives as a process. The process takes us up hills and dumps us into mud puddles and lifts us back up, only to toss us into a raging river current . . . we struggle across dry deserts, are whipped by hurricane winds and dropped over cliffs. There is fire and flood and hunger and loneliness.

The lesson is that we are to tend to others the way we needed to be tended.

Some days, the only things that keep us going are those small kindnesses that give us a ray of hope when we have misplaced ours. Some days . . . . the word of encouragement and the reminder that, "you are not alone". The friend who admires your ability, your spunk, your integrity, your whole person. The friend who shares that she respects you and will walk beside you, through it all. She believes in you!

It is good to remember that everyone goes through these seasons in life. None of us are immune, and those who pretend to be on top of the world will, sadly, be falling off their own cliffs and plunging into that icy river.

We each take our turns.

So, sweet friend, know that I believe in you. I respect you. I delight in your faith and your spirit and your integrity. I am wowed by your creativity and beauty and thought process. I will be there for you, any time.

Keep the faith, and know that it is vital to have friends.

We will need their love and kindness, and they will need ours.

Your friend, Joy