Friends! Just the thought of that word brings me joy. I am blessed to have many friends across the miles. And although I cannot visit with most of them face-to-face, I am comforted to know that though we are scattered, they do think of me often.
I couldn’t begin to name them all. . . Suzanne, Jennifer, Mary Helen, Patty, Helen, Suzette, Joyce, Pat, Wendell, Anne Marie, Marvin, Lee Ann, Cecily, Donna, Melody, Ken, Molly, Mitsy, Edith, Trish, Anita . . . And so many others. It would take pages to write what they each mean to me. I simply know that I am very fortunate to have friends that think of me and pray for me.
Having been so sick since February of 2014, I can truthfully say that their prayers have strengthened me and given me the courage to face each day. I am much better today because of their loving thoughts and prayers during the most difficult times.
This quote expresses friendship so beautifully:
When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, “Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life”
Thank you, dear friends – those I have named and the many that I did not name. You mean the world to me, and I thank God when I think of you.
God of the Sparrow 🌱 By Kathy Manis Findley 