This isn’t the first time you’ve heard about my dear friend Teri, and it probably won’t be the last. And since the pictures we took this week on our birthday outing didn’t turn out very well, I’m even using a photo I posted a couple of years ago. After all, we girls want to look our best, don’t we?
Anyone else lucky enough to have a best friend who has a birthday within a couple of weeks of your own and actually turns the same age as you? Let me tell you, it’s flat-out fun — not to mention comforting when the ole number of said birthday bothers you more than usual! Not only do we have someone ready and willing to take a day out for celebrating and having fun, we have the moral support needed for whatever number taunts us during any given year.
Come to think of it, celebration and moral support sum up friendship pretty well, don’t they? In fact, it reminds me of the scripture that exhorts us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12:15)
Teri and I live this scripture out in our friendship continually. We celebrate birthdays and other special days together, and we rejoice with each other over answers to prayer as well as successes or blessings we and our family members enjoy, along with the good things that happen to others. But we are also there for one another when things aren’t so rosy. The times when grief or illness or disappointment or concern for our loved ones darken our present light. And of course, we stand ready to offer help when help is needed. What can I say? We’re friends.
I hope you have a friend or two or three who stand ready in your life. Ready to rejoice, ready to mourn, or ready to help carry the load. Or do you find yourself wanting in the friendship department right now? After all, friendships — like other things in life — ebb and flow. If you’re currently caught in an ebb, begin praying about it. Ask God to bring some friends into your life and then be ready to reach out in friendship yourself. Take it from me — and God’s Word — two are better than one!
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
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*My photo
Thanks for that very encouraging post. It brought me to pray and thanking God for my great depend on you for anything friends! Love the scripture you included as well. Have a great day!