Friendship

I've been thinking a lot the last few days about friendship.  I had a long visit with a friend just "catching up."  We covered the world in our chat!  It was so good to talk together.

I also celebrated the birthday of a dear friend - someone I've known for close to 40 years.  That makes us both sound old. :)  But what a gift the friend has been through all those years.

And I've thought of friends all over the world - long time friends, new friends, close friends, and friends I'm just getting to know.  Each friend is a sweet, precious gift to me.  

I also have a lot of "prayer friends."  So many have prayed for me and for our family these last years as we went through some really difficult times.  I don't know each one of them personally, but I'm very grateful to them - and I don't think I'd have made it without their loving, faithful prayers!  Each one is definitely a gift to me!

I spoke once on the "Gift of People."  We are truly a gift to each other from the Lord!  God puts us in each other's lives to support and strengthen each other.  I am so grateful for each friend, known and unknown, in my life - for the love, prayers, encouragement, support......every one of them is such a beautiful gift to me!!

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."  Proverbs 17:17

"There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."  Proverbs 18:24

"The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense."  Proverbs 27:9

"Encourage one another and build each other up."  1 Thessalonians 5:11

"If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up."  Ecclesiastes 4:10

There are so many beautiful verses about friendship.  We are created to love and help one another.  Take a moment to think of the friends God has given you.  And thank Him!  

And over and above it all - I'm so grateful for the precious friendship of the Lord!!  He is my everything.

Lessons Under My Belt

Recently on one of our cold, gray, rainy winter days I decided to sort through some files and papers.  My energy was lagging, so I needed to do something that didn't require a lot of energy.

I came across the file of all the messages I received when Floyd passed away.  I had read them all at the time, but, of course, it was a very busy time so I had read them rather quickly.  I decided to read them all again - slowly this time.

As might be expected, there were lots of tears.  But there was also much joy and gratitude for all that was expressed.  There were stories of Floyd's impact in different ways in people's lives that I didn't know about.  The outpouring of love and appreciation impacted my heart deeply - it was like a fresh wave of healing to my heart as I read all the consoling messages.

I'm so grateful for all those messages from when Floyd passed away!  And it reminded me again of all the wonderful people the Lord has allowed us to cross paths with.  I again "savored" each one - as I wrote about in my last post. 

I have missed Floyd so much during this last treatment and post treatment side effects.  It has been a rough time.  My mind went back to how loving and supportive he was during my very first diagnosis and treatment of cancer.  I wish he could have been with me in this recent time.  But - because he wasn't, it pushed me in closer to the Father's heart of love and care again.  And that is a precious gift.  I'm so grateful I'm never alone.  The Lord is with me 24/7!  In this difficult time I have sensed His tender love and care. 

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust."  Psalm 103:13,14 

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."  James 4:8 

"May your unfailing love be my comfort." Psalm 119:76 

"In Him we live and move and have our being."  Acts 17:28

Wonderful people and a loving, faithful God - what more could I ask for?!!

Another beautiful encouragement I had was from, George Verwer,  founder of Operation Mobilization and dear friend.  He passed away recently.  He had often written encouraging messages to me during Floyd's illness.  He actually wrote me a letter a couple weeks before he passed away.  Mail is slow here (if we get it at all), and I only got his letter this past week.  It blessed me that he was thinking of me in his last days - and, as always, it was a letter of encouragement.

He enclosed a booklet entitled "Failure, the Back Door to Success." *  In it he shared very vulnerably of how some failures in his life taught him lessons that went on to lead to successes.  I could completely relate to what he shared.  I thought back to some difficult times in our lives, some "failures,"  and how God used them to shape our character and mature us in our leadership.  There were definitely successes that came in the years ahead from those painful lessons. 

In fact, I thought about how some lessons I learned during difficult times prepared me for the last 9 years.  I don't know if I'd have made it through this time if I hadn't learned those lessons.  I didn't particularly like it when I was going through the difficult times and learning the lessons - but I am so, so grateful that I had those lessons "under my belt" to help me in the challenges of these recent years.  God knew I would need those lessons and graciously took me through the hard times to learn them.

None of us like going through hard times!!  We feel the pain and disappointment of our "failures."  We want God to "fix" the problem, not teach us lessons.  But we don't see how God is using those hard times to stretch us, teach us, and build new foundations in our lives.  All these years later I am so grateful that God prepared me for what Floyd and I have gone through in these recent years.

I've mentioned it before, but Paul Billheimer's book "Don't Waste Your Sorrows" is a profound teaching on this topic.  It's a Godly perspective on going through difficulties.  I highly recommend it.

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord.  "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."  Isaiah 55:8,9

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."  Philippians 4:12,13

I don't like failures - whether it's when I'm cooking or in leadership.  Failure is disappointing and hard.  But I'm grateful that God can take the failures, teach us lessons, and use it to bring success in the future.  He has done that time and time again for us. 

* "Failure, the Back Door to Success" is taken from George Verwer's book "Drops from a Leaking Tap."  

The Power of Encouragement

Hello, I'm not sure if this is a true story, but it is certainly a story of "truth". I try to practice this simple truth with people I know, and people I meet for the first time, seeking to discern what God has put in a person and speak words of affirmation, hope and destiny to them. After all, if I am wrong, how bad can it be if I am trying to speak words of encouragement with the hope that it points people to Jesus?

Yours,

Floyd

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.

The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. “Were you Mark's math teacher?” he asked. She nodded, “yes”. Then he said, “Mark talked about you a lot”. After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher. “We want to show you something” his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket, “They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it”. Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him. “Thank you so much for doing that”, Mark's mother said, “As you can see, Mark treasured it”.

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, “I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home”.

Chuck's wife said, “Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album”.

“I have mine too”, Marilyn said. “It's in my diary”.

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. “I carry this with me at all times”, Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued, “I think we all saved our lists”.

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.

So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late, tell them while you have time. Tell them in carefully crafted but simple, heartfelt words of love why you appreciate them, the good you see in them, the love and hope you carry in your heart for them.