Friday, July 29, 2011

The Thing About Friends


When there are a couple of dozen things in your life that are not making sense, 
and you're taking a few moments to
pause and reflect
about just where you might rank in the great cosmic picture . . . 

you know,

one of those periods when you're stuck at home and you can't drive and you've recently cancelled your Comcast subscription
because . .  . well 
  you know why
I did that . . . 

and you've finished your library book
and it's not time to eat again yet,
and so you just sit in your semi dark room and
 think about life . . . 

yeah,
those times don't occur often, but when they do
(and they are currently),
you begin to assess
where you
rank on the food chain

and perhaps muse about how many years you may still have on earth

and whether you've done most of the things you thought you'd have done by
the age you are now . . . 

and you gauge whether you're likely to get any of the rest of the
 bucket list 
accomplished.







It's good to have these quiet times of reflection 
because I usually get to the point where I have to say


I'M SO VERY BLESSED IN MY LIFE.

While there will always be those who have more things
 and more fame
 and more money
 and more of whatever . . . .

and there will always be those people who it seems
never step in a cow pie . . .

and never get audited
and never get called for jury duty
and never get rear ended at a red light
and never have surgery
or break a tooth,
and never seem to get two of those really annoying flies in the house
that buzz so loudly and will not stop dive bombing your head for 3 days before they finally
go somewhere else . . . 
(they seem to arrive with the cow-pies)

I have to tell you that one of the things I have that makes any difficult time
seem a lot easier,
is my friends.

I have some of the best friends in the world.


Now,
A lot of people think they have friends . . . 
but you really seriously test that group of friends
and you're going to find that most will hang with you for a little while,

some will stand by even longer,

but a few will stick it out all the way through to the
 miserably long drawn out 
end.

A friend like mine will come and get you and drive you around town on errands
and take you out to lunch
even though you occasionally miss your mouth while you're eating
or need to have them hold on to you while you're walking.

My friends have rearranged work schedules 
and skipped their own appointments
and not gone to the gym,
and come, smelly, from the gym,
and brought brownies
and sent flowers
and gone to work for me.

No,
I mean they've actually gone in and done my work
because I couldn't.

They've driven across town to pick up my paycheck and deposit it in my bank.

They've let me storm and cry and shake my fist
when I needed to.

They've listened to me talk for a long time about my 
relationship with Jesus
even when they didn't hold the same beliefs I do,
because they respect my faith and my 
beliefs.



  They've acknowleged my thought process
even when I know they don't agree with it . . .
because they understand I may just need to be heard and understood.

They've been bold enough and secure enough and loving enough
 to risk giving me their opinions,
even when they fear I might not want to hear them.

Even when they fear they might hurt my feelings.
I believe it's a sign of respect
 that they know I won't dump them just because of a difference of opinion.

That's a secure friend.

That's like a family member.

You may get your feelings hurt,
and you may disagree,
and you may even need time to process what they've said,
but you don't stop being family.

I think being a friend is one of the most important things we can do while we're on this earth.

John 15:13
(Jesus speaking) 
"Greater love has no one than this,
that one lay down his life for his friends".

Some of my friends have laid down their lives:
put aside the things they "have" to do,
sacrificed work hours, leisure time, and a bunch of gasoline
 and personal energy and money and thought process
to take up the slack in my life.

I want to say thank you for being a blessing to me
dear friends.

Some of you email me with encouragement
some of you are prayer warriors,
some call, (tho' calls are tough right now),
some come and sit with me
some chauffer me around . . .

and no matter what happens in life,
when I've got friends like you guys . . .


It's going to be alright!


In fact, 
if things
  didn't ever go wrong in life,
and we didn't ever
NEED EACH OTHER

how would we know what
 good friends 
really were?
















4 comments:

  1. Hey Girl...
    A Woman once said to me...as I wept...over the Last Straw...that had nearly broken my back...{her eyes...as big as saucers} "You are so Blessed... God must love you very much....He chooses his Warriors, carefully....and a weak Warrior, would never do...you are being tested..."
    I had just read, in my "Streams in the Desert"..."It's the weights, on the Old Grandfather Clock, that make it go..." without the weights...it would be of little use....
    Hang in there Baby!!!!
    It's all about the Journey...my Sweet Friend...looks like this Journey...has been a blessing....in many ways...
    I Love You...
    God Loves You...
    Barb C.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sending my best prayers your way... Please know that I have thought of you often, asked God to give you the strength and peace that passes all understanding AND to give you the JOY that so aptly matches your name. Our scripture for our miraculous Michaela is one that I'll share with you...Ephesians 3:14-21 "For this reason...THAT HE WOULD GRANT YOU, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY, TO BE STRENGTHENED WITH POWER THROUGH HIS SPIRIT IN THE INNER MAN...TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST WHICH SURPASSES KNOWLEDGE, THAT YOU MAY BE FILLED UP TO ALL THE FULNESS OF GOD...WHO IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL WE ASK OR THINK ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS WITHIN US, TO HIM BE THE GLORY...FOREVER AND EVER." Much love from all the Mendozas!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Barb! Thank you for the insights! As always, you're right on.
    I have confidence that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord, and I trust that He will never leave me or forsake me! Love you, Joy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Lisa,
    You are an inspiration to me, always. Your light so shines before me!, that I see it and glorify my Father which is in heaven!
    I trust He is fully in control, knows the end before the beginning, and is completing His good work in me.
    (IF I'D JUST QUIT SQUIRMING!)
    I love you girl!

    ReplyDelete

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