Sunday, April 15, 2012

Thankfulness for Friendship




            I am doing the Random Journal Day exercise with Dawn over at Beneath the Surface and others. The way it works is we look through our old journals and find an entry that speaks to us and we post it. The poem I posted last week was my first try at posting anything from a journal entry.
            The following has some personal thoughts but that was what I thought as I reflected on the idea of friendship and how thankful I am to have the relationships I have.
This was originally written on November 24, 2008

            God does something for His children that blesses us all. He creates friendships among them.
            Several years ago, a mother with a teenage son chose to worship in another church. The woman faced a dire prospect in her life—her husband, involved in self-destructive behavior, could have succumbed to his life-style. Her son, who had a physical disability, hadn’t done well in school and had no close ties to anyone among his peers.
            She made the change in churches as a scared, troubled, and depression-prone person. She met people who looked past her problems and saw her heart. Because of these people, she grew in the Lord. Her son established some friendships, as well.
            Most of these friendships are strong, even today. (That small church has closed its doors and the people have scattered.) But several of those people are worshipping in the church where she and her husband now attend. God did an outstanding work when He forged friendships for this woman.

            I am the woman in this journal entry. At this ‘new’ church I have been able to make more friends. Due to the size of the church, I don’t get to know everyone as well as I would like but I know this: When I have a need, people do not hesitate to call and ask how we are doing. When my dad died, three sisters were coming in the front door of the church as I was going out. They each one stopped and gave me a big hug. When they put together a slideshow of the veterans’ pictures, I asked if I could submit one of my dad, since he had been a Marine. They let me. When I started in with depression a short time later, one of the ladies showed concern. When my husband was in the hospital and had undergone two surgeries similar to Peyton Manning in less than a week. The doctor talked about going in a third time. He was panicked, I was trying to be there for him and still didn’t understand what was happening, One of those dear friends who took me in all those many years ago said she’d come sit with me at the hospital, no matter how early it was.
            I thank God for forging these friendships. 

10 comments:

  1. Hi Cecelia -

    Thank you for sharing this entry from your journal. What a great idea for a post!

    I understand the value of friendships. When my husband was diagnosed with leukemia, they rallied around us and provided spiritual, emotional, and physical support.

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    1. I have seen this comforting of the hurting brothers and sisters in action repeatedly. Be it taking food into a home or individuals contributing money to a family so they could stay in a motel close to a hospital in Indy. One time our congregation heard of a family who didn't have the money to cover the internment of a brother/uncle. The congregation donated and the church had a memorial service for the family.

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  2. Dear New Blogging Friend Cecilia, Thank you for sharing your "Random Journal"entry with us..it takes courage to allow others to see us in our times of weakness or uncertainty...but the wonderful thing is, in allowing our humanness to show...we are also showing God's strength and power to meet our needs in our weakness. Praise God for true Christian friends...wherever we may find them. God bless you!

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    1. Thank you for your beautiful thoughts. God can do so much for when we are in His will. I sometimes find myself shying away from revealing my history because I am aware there are those who would not understand how much God has done for me and my family. Feel free to visit me anytime you can.

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  3. I've also been in the position of going out the door of a church, and have struggled to find a deep, rich community of women to replace what was lost. Your words are encourage me. Thank you.

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    1. Thank you for your thought. When we trust God to lead us, He takes care of all our needs. Thank you for visiting me here. Feel free to come any time you can.

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  4. Cecelia, thank you for sharing so bravely your heart with us. I am amazed how God gives us what we need at the right time-He is always working behind the scenes...

    So often it can be in times of pain where these heart connections are made and kept.

    I thank God for You, my fellow Blogging Sister.
    Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)

    In His Grace, Dawn

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    1. Thank you, Dawn. There is a book called, He Works the Night Shift. The author tells us God works all the time even when we are not aware of it. During this time,I had hit my spiritual bottom, all I could do was look up.

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing this. It is a blessing to see how God works in our lives, and how He truly cares about all the big and little things.
    Blessings,
    Karen

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    1. Thank you, Karen. I became the woman I am because of those friendships God forged. If we allow Him to work in our lives, He shows us that even the little things are important to Him.

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I would be honored to hear what you think about this.

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