A Friend Is...

The dictionary tells us that a friend is:
a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

Many of us have Facebook friends, work friends, church friends, neighborhood friends. How
many of those are true friends? I have 880 Facebook friends - some from high school (or before), some from college, some from work (or past jobs), some from church, a couple from the neighborhood and many family members.

However, when I think of people that I would turn to in a time of need, those first people I would contact with big news, the ones who would do my laundry or other household chores if something happened to me (while my husband was attending to my every need, of course), how many of those 880 people fit into that category?

In Proverbs 17:17, I see that "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." That makes me wonder how loosely we use the term "friend." Stop and think about who will actually be there for you in your time of need, when you need a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. Who will celebrate a new job with you? Or a new baby? Or a marriage? Will every one of those people on your Facebook friends list be there? I can almost assure you the answer is no.

While I realize that many of the people on my friends list may post on my wall and tell me they're praying for me or they're thinking about me or offer congratulations or whatever the situation warrants. However, if I were to make a list of the people who would drop what they're doing and spend hours on the phone with me or drive hours to get to where I'm at, that list would dwindle. In fact, that list would include 4 or 5 that I know for sure. Don't get my wrong. I'm thankful for each and every person I'm connected to on Facebook. I'm beyond blessed by those couple of friends who have been part of my life for decades. You know, those kind of friends who you don't have to talk to or see every day to know they care, yet you can pick right up where you left off and laugh or talk for hours? I have a couple of them. I also am blessed with a couple great friends who I added to my life about 7 years ago. 2 ladies who are always there to encourage me and pray for me. Do you have friends like that?

Sometimes people may think I'm stand-offish. I'm not. I'm introverted. I'm afraid of sounding stupid. I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing. I'm afraid of opening myself up to people. So I stay quiet. Of course, those who truly know me would say I'm not that quiet. haha But, we won't ask them!

I know this is not an eloquent blog post. I already told you I'm not a writer. Maybe I'm the only one who will read this anyway. Maybe I'm the only one who reads 99.9% of what I write. That's ok. I can only do what God told me to do. He told me to blog every Thursday. He didn't tell me anyone would read it. I'm ok with that. Today, I waited and waited for Him to tell me what to write about. He told me (finally!) that I was supposed to write about friendship. Thank you to those few of you who are my closest friends. You know exactly who you are. To the rest of you (those Facebook friends I went to school with, work with, attend church with) know that I am here to pray for you. I may not share the details of my life with you. But I don't share those details with everyone. Don't take offense to that. To my family (who make up the rest of my Facebook friends list and many beyond that) you have no idea what you mean to me! I love each and every one of you. Thank you for loving me the way I am. Thank you for encouraging me and sharing this journey of life with me.

Next week, I hope God gives me a more eloquent post...or tells me this one was so horrible I don't have to blog anymore. haha