friends

i can't say i found any pennies yesterday, but i did find my friends alive and well and that is more than i could have asked or imagined.

this morning i am greeted by the words of a dear friend, returning the kind compliment, calling me friend. i cannot tell you what an honor it is to be a friend to someone. truly. people use that word as if it were mere interjection, well, um. you're standing here. friend.

no. let's return to the sacredness of being friend.

i heard somewhere that there is a movement for covenant marriage. so people will actually make a covenant marriage to stay committed to one another. duh. that is what marriage means. so basically it is a marriage. marriage is a covenant before God whether you deem it such or not.

i feel the same way about friendship. i have learned that there are those who simply don't have it to give. for those, i reserve my christian love but not my friendship. i cannot have a one way friendship, it is simply not possible. it is a holding of hands, a mutuality. which very much reminds me of a word i need to write down, something i believe the Lord whispering to my spirit.

friendship is a commitment. a challenge. a living entity unto itself. a force to be reckoned with. it is not a trifle or a passing fancy. i do not call everyone my friend, and wish only those who truly think me their friend would reserve the word for use on me. for it is a calling forth, a stirring up the gift, a mandate to me.

i wrote to a friend recently that i was finding joy this year. but it has only been six days. God can do a lot in six days, i said. realizing how massively true that word is. today is the second sixth day of this season for me.

things have not settled down in terms of the chaos of life, but i have peace. friends. companions on the way. and i am grateful beyond words. i am grateful.