The Measure of a Friend

Friends.

God places them in our lives because He knows we need them. They need us.

Friendship is a gift from God.

Trusting someone with your friendship is a privilege we give to one another. Trust develops an assurance for when difficult times come {and you know they will!}, we will have someone who will stand with us, bringing us the inspiration we need to endure, to persevere.

Almost nine months ago a small voice inside of me said, “Go say hello and invite her for tea.” And yet. it was the biggest task God could have asked me to do. So, so out of my comfort zone… and for this introvert, that takes a lot of pretending to be braver than I am.

Sitting across from her, drinking tea, I could not have imagined how quickly our friendship would develop. The conversation flowed like we’d been friends for years. Easy. Comfortable. Deep. We laughed. We shared our life stories. We cried. We loved. There was a familiarity which brought the ease. The comfort. She knew me. I knew her.

Little did I realize that God was already working on my “One word” for 2014 back then…It takes intention to meet someone, to invite them for tea. An invitation do life together.

But when she announced they were moving,  I found myself wanting to close up the friendship shop and not reach out again. But as we enjoyed our last cuppa tea together, we pinkie swore to each other not to keep to ourselves but to do our best to step out from our comfort zones and intentionally reach out and develop new friendships with women that God will put in our lives.

Some friendships can only go skin deep. It can become all about smiling, quick chats about the weather and what the kids are up to before we rush off. But real friendship is actually about investment. It’s about showing you care. It’s about sacrifice. Giving. Love. It’s about being intentional.

So what is the “measure of a good friend”?

“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg
even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.”
~ Bernard Meltzer

“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart
and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.”
~ Author Unknown

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another,
'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”
~ C.S. Lewis

“True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.”
~David Tyson Gentry

“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion,
who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.”
~Henri Nouwen

What is your experience of friendship? Have you been blessed in some special ways by your friends? Please share…

Blessings