I want to share a couple of things that I learned from the conference I attended last week. To be honest, I was overwhelmed. I learned so much, met so many people, spent time in reflection and visited an area of the United States I’ve never been before. But what I want to share with you is that I was reminded to remember what I already know.

During reflection time, I remembered how much I love silence. I remembered how much I love to cook. I remembered what refreshes my soul. I remembered that friendship is really important to me and that I’ve neglected some of my friends.

While I have some plans for each of these items I remembered, I want to share just one piece on friendship today. At the conference we were given a snippet from Mary DeTurris Poust’s book titled Walking Together. This is what she says.

“We are not meant to be solitary figures walking a lonely path toward heaven. We are meant for God and for each other. We are one body with many parts, sharing our gifts and growing in faith. Today we pray for the grace to recognize the friends in our midst; to open our eyes, our hearts, our minds to the possibility of what God has planned. We long for a community of friends to journey with us, and we know now that through trust and abandonment, we will be given exactly what we need.”

Spiritual friendship. Spiritual friendship with God and with people.

So let me ask you first, how is your friendship with God? Are you best buds? Are you a casual acquaintance? Are you somewhere in between?

Once you’ve answered this question, we can move on to the next. What is keeping you from having a closer friendship with God? Sin? Distraction? Busyness of life? Stubbornness?

God created us to crave something. God created us to crave Him! Why not decide today to take a step closer to God and build this relationship as He designed?

After your spiritual friendship with God is on the right track, what about spiritual friendship with others? Now I love my girlfriends as much as the next gal, but I believe we all desire a deeper relationship with another person. In our world today, we might call them an accountability partner or prayer partner. This is someone who is more concerned about our spiritual life than our physical life. This is the person who is able to see us through God’s eyes and lead us down the path to be a better person. To live a life that is more in line with God’s Word and will for our lives. Oh friend, don’t you want that in your life?

I must admit, my friendships are lacking. My energy level is depleted by the time working on this friendship thing rises to the top. But what I remembered is that these friendships, these ladies who I’ve invested time with in the past are very important to me. I need to get back in the game with each of them. No more excuses. Just do it.

But more importantly, I remembered that I need to be in community with a spiritual friend who will walk beside me through this journey. And that’s what I want to work toward. It has become one of my goals.

Maybe this is exactly what you needed to hear today. And then again, maybe not. Let me remind you of what God says about friendship.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; if one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 – NIV)

“Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.” (Proverbs 27:9 – NIV)

“Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17 – NIV)

Draw close to God and then pull your spiritual friends closer. That’s what I remembered.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna