Thank God for Friends

Life changes with the seasons and times. Life moves at the speed of light. Sometimes you get so caught up in all the doing, that you forget what it means to be a human being. I’ve been feeling the pressure of life come at me in all directions. I get on one plane, land in another city, and the adventure seems to never end. My life is a never ending story of daily encounters with the supernatural. Yet, in the midst of all the motion and movement in life, I have come to ask myself what do I really want?

I think what I want is pretty simple. Friends :)

When it is all said and done, what is a person if have not friends? You can change the world, fight for a noble cause, live for others and die a martyrs death, but if you don’t have friends you don’t have anything. The journey, the adventure, the fight, the battle, the destiny to be lived is never meant to be lived alone, it is meant to be lived out with others. So this moment I want to be thankful for those friends God has put in my life. Many friends I have neglected, others I have done my best to be there, and there are still others that I wish we were closer than we are. Through it all, I’ve come to learn one thing recently and that is life is about “friends.” Really, that is what life is about. It’s about sharing life, sharing love, sharing joy, sharing pain, sharing struggles, sharing grace, sharing passion, sharing dreams, sharing failures, sharing hopes, sharing forgiveness, sharing everything, with those others we call “friends”

I wish I could write a thank you to each person who has shown me love, acceptance, understanding, compassion, empathy, sympathy, encouragement, time, a listening ear and prayers. I’m afraid I would miss someone important, so I don’t want to go there. But I simply want to say, “You are loved and appreciated”

This season of my life has been intense. For the past 90 days I feel like I’ve been living in a timeless clock. I’m just going from one thing to the next, one battle to fight, another victory to be won, taking a hit, going down and getting back up to fight again for the cause of Christ. But when I woke up this morning, I felt the Holy Spirit say to me, “What do you really want?” I thought, pondered for a moment in silence and realized what I want is friendship. “Friendship with You Father & friendship with those you have given me. If I have friends Father, then everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is holy is worth fighting for.”

You see, all that we do in this life is worth nothing if we don’t have friends. We can pursue dreams and visions. Do great exploits and accomplish mighty feats. We can achieve all the world has to offer. We can help a million people. We can do it all, really we can, but if you don’t have friends than what’s it all for? Don’t forget your friends. Don’t forget those you truly care for and love dearly. Don’t forget, because you never know when it’s too late. Don’t be so focused on the future, that you forget to enjoy the present. There is no greater present one can have than the presence of a true friend, who truly cares, truly understands and loves you as you are. Be with that person, or be with those persons today.

Tonight, I chose to go one mile ahead and spend some time with some friends I really care about while I am in a foreign land. It was good times, it brought a smile to my face even for the little while. :)