Saturday, August 7, 2010

The Gift of Friendship

"Friendship is a priceless gift
that can't be bought or sold,
But its value is far greater
than a mountain made of gold"
-The Gift of Friendship by Helen Steiner Rice

In my mind, a good friend is someone who can make me laugh and make me love Jesus more. I happen to have several of those friends, and I'm not sure why God decided to bless me with so many of them. Coming home from camp made me realize I have a lot of catching up to do with friends from home, yes, but I also realized how great it is to establish those camp friendships in the "outside world." Throughout the summer, we wrote encouraging notes to one another and put the notes in our "mailbox." They were a great pick-me-up in the middle of the week, and they always gave me a more excited heart for ministry & for serving God! What if I did this at home?
When I think about all of my closest friends, I get so excited to think that most of them stimulate my heart for Jesus Christ in a way I could never motivate myself on my own. How great is that to think about?! God calls us to carry burdens for one another, pray for each other, and encourage one another daily... and my friends do just that for me! It's so wonderful to know that I know that I know someone is lifting me up in prayer constantly, and they are just a quick phone call away from a Christ-honoring conversation.
So what about you... how today have you encouraged someone and built them up?

2 comments:

  1. 1. I have had that poem on a glass plaque ever since I was a baby. I LOVE IT. :)
    2. I hope you know that the kind of friendship that you talk about here is definitely how I view OUR friendship! You encourage me every time I'm around you to live for God with more zeal and passion and joyfulness than most people I know! I can always depend on you for prayer and a shoulder to lean on. AND, to top it all off!, you are going to be my teammate in one of the most challenging and amazing summers of our lives and I would NEVER want to change that! :)
    So thank you for your friendship Emily! I love you and I am so thankful for you! :)

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  2. Erin, you are so, so, SO sweet! You know you do the same thing for ME! :)
    I love you.

    Also, about the poem... I memorized the full poem in elementary school for a speech meet thing- this is just my favorite part of it!

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