Jessica

My heart is so full of tenderness and thanksgiving for one of my best friends. Her birthday is this month and I can't thank God enough for her life and the way He orchestrated our friendship. I went through a season of not having any real close friends when I first started walking with the Lord. I prayed and asked God for friends that were like Jonathan and David in the bible...kindred spirits. If you don't have a close godly girlfriend I pray that you will ask God for one. Anyway, our relationship is centered on Christ and I can't tell you how thankful I am for the counsel and encouragement that she brings to my life. She is the kind of friend that you can just sit in the room with and hang out. We don't have to have a plan or agenda. She lives 2 hours away so most of our time is on the phone and email. But it is a friendship that adds life to you instead of sucking the life out of you...do you know what I mean? I wanted to list a few aspects of my frienship that I think are so important in having a friend.

1. We need to be so wise about choosing the people that we walk this earth with in close fellowship. The people that we really let in and let know us. I am very sanguine and a mix of choleric in my personality and I can talk to just about anyone...but I don't let just everyone in. I can be me with her. I have no fear that she is going to gossip or judge me. I can seriously tell her anything. I am so thankful for that kind of freedom and accountability.

Proverbs 12:26

26 A righteous man is cautious in friendship, [a] but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

2. This girl has truly loved me through some hard times and she has never once made me feel condemned even if she has had to speak the truth in love. She doesn't just quit being a friend. Honestly, I have never met a more loyal person in my life. If I ever ask her to pray about something she does and I mean she follows up. She listens not only with her ears but with her heart.

Proverbs 17:17

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

3. She truly is my family...my sister in Christ and the investment that we both make in our friendship truly draws us closer than even most of my siblings. We love to share what we are learning and she constantly sends me scriptures via text and email to point me to Jesus.

Proverbs 18:24

24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

4. Earnest counsel--she seriously gives me godly counsel when I need it and encourages me to keep my focus on Christ. It truly is so uplifting and encouraging. I can't tell you how many times she even tells me the truth to refute lies that I am believing about myself. It is like the verse that says we are to encourage one another daily so that we dont become hardened by sin's deceitfulness. She truly speaks courage into my life.

Proverbs 27:9

9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel.

5. I have taken several tumbles in to the pit since we have been friends and I have had her there to help pick me up and help me to keep walking and keep focused. She constantly challenges me to believe what God says and not how I feel. I need that.

Eccl 4:10

10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

6. The relationship that we have through prayer and the word sharpens me. It helps me to grow and fires me up about Jesus esp when we are learning the same things and God is teaching us the same stuff. It builds my faith.

Proverbs 27:17

17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

There are so many other things I could say...but I am so thankful to God that He doesn't leave us here alone to do this thing. I don't know where I would be at times without her sweet friendship. It is a gift from God.

I love you sweet Jessica. Thank you for knowing me and still loving me in the Lord for me. Unconditional.