'FRIENDS"...Tuesday

6/9/15

Truly great friends are hard to find,

Difficult to to leave,

And impossible to forget.

I received an email today about the importance of friends. It was interesting, because I had just been thinking about the role we play in the lives of our friends and the role they play in our lives. We are blessed if we have friends that we can count on and we also become someone who can be depended upon. I am blessed with many friends. I have a friend that I have known for over sixty five years. My college roommate and I are in contact after fifty years. Every where I have lived has brought me special friends that I love in spite of the fact that we do not see each other often.

I have lived in my present town for thirty eight years. During that time I have made numerous friends. Some were friends who fulfilled a momentary role in my life. Others have become friends for a lifetime. I feel blessed by God to have friends in my life who are substantial Women of God. I often look at myself in the light of the fact that they are so gifted by the Lord with so many insights and spiritual understandings and wonder how I have made such awesome friends.

Then I tell myself that I have something to offer. My gifts include faith in and love of God, compassion, hospitality, and willingness to come along side. These are the gifts from God that I offer to friends. They, in turn, have different spiritual giftings that lift me up.

I know that the One I must rely on is God. He is my source in times of need. Still I believe that the "sisters" he has brought into my life are an important part of His plan for my life.

In the email I mentioned there was a list of the attributes of friends who are like sisters...

"Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how

many miles are between you. A girl friend is never 

farther away than needing her can reach. 

When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you

have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life

will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on,

praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on

your behalf, and waiting with open  arms at the

alley's end.

Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk

beside you....Or come in and carry you out.

Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters,

daughters-in-law,  sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers,

Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended

family: all bless our life!

The world wouldn't be the same without women, and

neither would I.. When we began this adventure called

womanhood, we had no idea of the  incredible joys or

sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we

would need each other.

Every day, we need each other still.

And God in His infinite love and wisdom

has given us friends who are His hands and heart.

Written by

Corinne Mustafa