My dear friend, whom I met in college, sent me a message yesterday. As I read It, I began to realize how close we had remained in the 14 years since we met, and how our relationship had evolved. I suppose our first conversations included photography, copy writing, and event scheduling, as she was the editor of the publications for which I worked. As we became friends, we spoke of our families, goals, and ultimately began to seek council from each other as the need would arise. I remember getting a call from my dad’s mother, my “MamMa” and learning that she had developed glaucoma and would need treatment and a life-long prescription to combat this eye condition. I ran down the hall to my friend’s dorm room and asked for prayer, recanting the phone call in tears. I was so distraught that I miss-spoke and told my friend that my MamMa had just been diagnosed with “Gonorrhea. “ (A sexually transmitted disease that my widowed grandmother definitely did not have!) My blunder has been the source of much laughter since that time, not only for us, but for the hundreds of people my MamMa has told as she howled with laughter.
Our conversations have changed a great deal in fourteen years. I consulted her and asked for prayer as I began my now highly successful occupational safety consulting business, I was with her as she struggled with the specific needs of a dear family member of hers, and we stood beside each other as we each took vows to honor and cherish the men God called to be our husbands. She has even accompanied me on long trips for my company, making it a “Girls week” of fun and work. We worked hard that week to be sure that in fourteen more years, we would have the resources to bring our families along and not work at all, just enjoy the vacation. (Or maybe even skip town and the two of us get away from our families) Because she is a successful writer, she was able to work from her computer during our trip.
My friend is a complete genius and researches the latest information concerning all types of difficult to understand topics such as medical breakthroughs, environmental factors, and even lasers. Her job is to present these ideas in such a way that normal people like me have a prayer of understanding them. Although her research is mostly out of my field and much of it I can’t relate to, I tend to read her published work as much as I can. I figure, the more I read of it, the better I will understand her purpose, and that can only forge a stronger relationship.
Although the messages we exchanged yesterday were fairly dull and covered such topics as the status of her internet, this week’s deadline, and the fancy new coffee maker I had purchased for my husband’s birthday, I realized that my relationship with Jesus is much the same.
When I first met Him, I had to get to know Him. I trusted Him with my concerns and shared the many blessings of knowing His support and even His humor. Our relationship evolved until every day I could just simply begin a random conversation with Him or respond to something He was talking to me about… And just like with my friend, although much of His word has to be deciphered, it’s worth the read to enjoy a closer, more intimate picture of His purpose. He is the ultimate friend and councilor, and is available anytime, anywhere, and forever. He is all knowing and all seeing yet he loves me as a daughter. I have the opportunity to speak with Him every day about ANYTHING my heart has to say even if it seems dull and unimportant…He will even listen about the coffee maker.
Today, God gives us peace as we pray for her journey into motherhood and direction as my children accept Christ and begin their own relationships with Him. I thank God for the blessing of communing with Him daily and for the blessing of my dear friend.
There are friends who are friends, and there is a friend that is closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24
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