Proverbs 27:17 "Iron sharpens iron, and one man (woman) sharpens another."
Last weekend I received a wonderful gift in celebration of my 35th birthday (which was in March). Shane watched the kids while a friend of mine from Minnesota and I traveled to Portland to visit our mutual dear friend for a girls' weekend! I cannot begin to tell you how incredibly fulfilling and refreshing our time was!
If any of you have ever moved at one time or another, than you can understand how that transition affects the friendships in your life and how challenging it can be to spend all your time in new situations continually having the "getting to know you" conversations. It's draining after a while and there are times in the past year where I have just longed for the comfort of people that know me well and have loved me for a long time. There is an ease in those relationships that cannot be duplicated and that takes a LONG time to cultivate.
SO, you can imagine then how WONDERFUL it was for me to spend a few days completely focused on spending time with 2 special friends that know me well and who I can completely be myself with. You can't put a price tag on that and the older I get the more I come to realize how rare it really is in our present day and culture and how hard it is to even find them. I could speculate on the reasons but I think they are different for each of us. Something we can probably all agree on is that it is hard to make and keep those kind of friendships - the ones that challenge and strengthen us because within them we practice honesty, vulnerability and selfless love. Yikes - it sounds hard just talking about it! Ah, but the benefits to be had are definitely priceless.
I share this with you to encourage you to celebrate those special people God has placed in your life who give you glimpses of His beauty and enrich you. They are gifts from a loving Father, the God who created relationships, who has so much to teach us about Himself. I am praying that you will receive His love and wisdom through one of the beautiful conduits He has chosen to use: the heart of a true friend.
I am so inspired after spending time with those who love me with Christ's love to not waste that gift but to allow that love, His love, to stretch my heart to a greater capacity that more might overflow from me.
Blessings to each of you dear sisters and fellow servants of the King!
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