What does friendship mean to you?

My best friend...

"Are not all lifelong friendships born at the moment when at last you meet another human being who has some inkling...of that something which you were born desiring, and which, beneath the flux of other desires and in all the momentary silences between the louder passions, night and day, year by year, from childhood to old age, you are looking for, watching for, listening for?" ~ C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain


Yesterday, my friend, Vicki, posted the above quote on Facebook and it resonated deeply. I've come to realize that the term 'friend' means different things to different people.
For me, it is a term I take quite seriously. I laugh everytime I see I have 200 'friends' on Facebook, knowing full well most are just acquaintances. What does a friend mean to me?
 
First and foremost, a friend is someone I feel 'safe' with, someone who knows me, the good and bad, and persists in loving me without judging. My friendships are marked more by our similarities, in values, in interests, in passions, and most of all, in faith. At my age, I do not share my heart indiscriminately with people. I have come to understand that my heart is a very precious thing.
 
In recent years, I have had a couple of people 'demand' my heart. "I have decided that I want to get to know you". I wondered, "Do I have a say in this?" And there have been others who have treated me like a project, something they can hand over to someone else when they so wish. In both cases, a condescending tone offends me greatly.
 
Years ago I realized that I had One True Friend, the perfect Friend, in Jesus. No one else could meet my demands for unconditional love and noone else treated my heart wtih such respect and gentleness. No one else placed such value in it. No one.
 
On one hand I can count the people I would freely allow in my home at any time, with the messes. I can count on one hand the people to whose homes I would go and feel at home. These are the people I have a 'history' with, people who have been loyal to me in spite of my ups and downs, people who have not gossiped unkindly about me, people who pray for me. I thank God for them. They are diamonds.
 
Thank you, God, for friendship. May I be a friend as You are a Friend.



Daniel, on your 14th birthday....

Daniel, I was struck by your words the other day that 13 means you're a teenager and 15 means you're now in high school, but 14 wasn't really anything significant. That's the way life is, in between the milestone events are the times of humdrum and waiting, but would you believe it, it is the most crucial in God's plan. For it is in these times, He is preparing us for the huge events, by building relationship with us.
And this is my blessing for you this year...relationship....with God.

You have been named after Daniel in the Old Testament....here are some key quotes that speak to Daniel's character:
...but the people who know their God shall prove themselves strong and shall stand firm and do exploits [for God]. (11:32-AMP)
...But Daniel determined in his heart that he would not defile himself (1:8-AMP)

Daniel’s Babylonian masters changed many things about Daniel’s life: his homeland, his diet, even his name, but they could not change his heart....who he was...a friend of God.
Daniel's bravery stemmed from the fact that he knew God.   He had a spiritual reservoir from his relationship with God from which he drew his convictions that enabled him to make a right decision in an hour of crisis.  

So my son, that is what I bless you with this year, a persistence and hunger after God, in spite of what your peers are engaging in. You have already shown that you will speak out for truth. You have hard, strong convictions and I pray that like Daniel, you will handle them in a humble and gracious way. You will need that spiritual reservoir that is built in relationship to draw from in today's world that so easily shows contempt for the holiness of your God.

And in so doing, may you be recognized and honored, as Daniel was by the king, as.."full of the Holy Spirit...a brilliant mind...incredibly wise..." and may you always be gracious and humble knowing full well...that it is God and His glory spilling out from a heart in sync with His.

Happy 14th Birthday, my son--have a great year!!

Love, thoughts and prayers,
Your Mom (:
(P.S...since I'm at the library, I don't have access to recent photo..but I'll correct that later..Ok(; ?)