Tag Archives: Friendship

Five Minute Friday: Dive

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Linking up with everyone for Five Minute Friday, where a remarkably encouraging and loving  community gathers to write for five minutes. This week’s prompt is: DIVE.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and our families ventured to a water park complete with large inner tubes to float down the lazy river. Super size slides and water tunnels did not intimate the adults sliding down right after their children. The large swimming area with a few cascading waterfalls and smooth rock side finish gave the effect of a mountain pool. There were a few life guards but  with so many children and adults splashing and making happy noises, they did not see a child struggling  in the deep end of the pool, very close to the water fall. She was frantically trying to get to the side of the pool and the look on her face was that of fear and terror  She went under and kicked herself back up for air and struggled more. I shouted to the life guards to HELP but my voice could not penetrate through the noise.

The only voice  that was penetrating through the noise was that of my own voice…in my head that said, DIVE!

And I did. I swam to her and she saw me coming. When I was close enough she began grabbing for me for her safety. She was struggling and I feared we would both go under the water.

STOP FIGHTING ME! I shouted. TRUST ME! She stopped flailing her arms long enough for me to quickly turn her around and slide my left arm under hers and kicked and pulled through the water with my right arm…we made it to the ladder on the other side of the pool. I was breathless. Relieved. She was rescued.

Sometimes helping friends in need is risky. It may cost you something of great value. It may require you to DIVE into their mess and unknown struggles to rescue them from serious consequences. DIVE in and call out for God the rescuer to help you both find peace and safety.

Sometimes we struggle against others helping us. We fight against what is good and right. Sometimes we don’t trust our helper because we are drowning in fear, pain, worry and hopelessness.

Stop struggling against God. You’re gasping for air and Jesus says, “TRUST ME! I am the great RESCUER! I will DIVE in for you. I have already been to the depths for you. Stop struggling against ME…I love you with an everlasting love. I will rescue you!”

 

Five Minute Friday

Mentoring, Friendship, and Little Birds

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Photos taken Spring, 2011

I have the immense pleasure of spending time with a friend, whom I admire and have deep respect for and she is also a resource of strength and knowledge that I’ve only begun to tap into. Nancy (my friend) has graciously taken me in to teach me a few things about water-color painting. I’ve had a longing to learn how to paint with water colors for a very long time and since moving to the lake, this longing has only grown stronger.  I was going to register for a beginners art class and then I thought of my friend, Nancy. Actually, I believe it was God who gave me the thought to think of Nancy! She is a gift from God. Yes, it’s that simple and it’s that big of a gift.

I wonder if Nancy has any idea of how much she has helped me to relax and enjoy the small things…to move slower, to observe the small details and to see Jesus even in the thorns.  

I believe we all need a mentor and friend to model a different way of living, a different way of viewing problems, a different way of pacing and working through a hectic season of life so that we may know Jesus in a deeper and more personal way. My friend guides me back to the gospel…to  loving Jesus anew, just by spending time painting with water colors.

My time with Nancy goes by much too quickly. To make it linger a little longer, I was thrilled that she invited me outside to see something very special. Yes!…I grabbed my camera first and walked outdoors with her. It was wonderful to venture into that lush backyard at Nancy’s home and stand under huge walnut and pecan trees, as she directed my gaze to bird’s nest of little robins–a nest of robins within the thorns.

Ah, the sweet love of a friend. Oh, the joy of finding Jesus again!  

The Giver and The Receiver

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We are blessed with friends. When I think about it, the Lord has given us many opportunities to help our friends in time of need. It’s God’s awesome gift of His grace in our lives that enables us to live out the gospel in tangible ways. It is a joy to be “the giver.” Recently we have experienced what it feels like to be “the receiver” of good things. Friends staying by our side as we experience deep sorrow and loss. Prayer support, meals, cards, and listening to us talk. Friends sending small gifts of appreciation or a gift for no other reason but “just because.”

Last weekend, friends in Florida invited us to get away for the weekend and they treated us to several hours of sailing and dinner afterwards.  We stayed in their home and we were treated like royalty. They rolled out the red carpet for us!  We said our farewell the next morning and drove to our next destination at the beach. The amazing beach front condo was another gift to us. So “the giver” became “the receiver”…humbled by the generosity of others.

Sailing near Cumberland Island
My husband’s phone rings at 3:00 in the morning. He then noticed a text message sent earlier in the night, which he had missed seeing. My husband’s friend needs him by his side. He is very ill with cancer. His family needs his presence. Without hesitation, my husband quickly begins to pack the suitcases and cooler for the long drive home. For he has been “the receiver” of good things from his friend– encouragement in his faith, an example of deep unmovable faith and love for the Lord, a passion for ministry and to change the world through world missions for the gospel of Christ, answered prayers, friendship and more and more. My husband cried and said, “I will miss my friend.”
The Giver and The Receiver. We are both. Humbled that we can give to others, only because of the generosity of God’s gift to us and humbled to be the receiver of the most indescribable gift…only because of His grace.

The Giver and The Receiver