In Which I Speak of Defining Friendships?..

When I think back on my forty years of life I am hard pressed to find one thing that has impacted my days more than the treasure of friends.

We learn it young and grow it through the years.? The principals of relationship.? The basics of trust and safety and love.

It?s simple?.

Yet so complex.

And, somehow it seemed much easier in my younger days.? In the days when responsibilities weighed on someone else and all that consumed our thoughts was a good game of hide and go seek.? Friendship came easy then.? There were no rules.? We just played.

But, as the years started passing by, the rules began to stack up.? Defeat trumped success and I quickly found myself empty handed.? Alone.? Isolated.? And, desperate for something more.

We were created for relationship.

So God created human beings in His own image.? In the image of God He created them; male and female he created them.? Genesis 1:26-27 NLT

Looking at the people around me, struggling within, I had a desire for more.? An insatiable craving? for deep relationships built on substance and not lacking in longevity.

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We need to surround ourselves with those friends who will propel? us inward toward the heart of Christ, forsaking the heart of the world we live in.

We desperately need INTENTIONAL, AUTHENTIC friendships!

These relationships seat Christ in the middle.? The very axis by which all relational equations rotate.? These friendships are not:

Jealous

Envious

Boastful

Arrogant

or self seeking.

Christ centered friendships weather the storms of many trials, driving the roots of the friendship deeper.

Authentic relationships actively engage in nurturing the heart and soul, seeking to embrace the very manifestation of the roots of our creator.

These friendships place a superior value on vulnerability and transparency, burying the masks of stereotypical relationships.

True authentic relationships see the value in differences being rooted in the ONEness of Christ.? The centrifugal forces of love and respect dictate the very words and actions of all members.

It is in these friendships where we see the primal value in being right with God above being right with THIS world.

These relationships possess an intimacy which can only be achieved through a delicate balance of nature verses nurture.? A prayerful dance with the creator of our days.

But as a woman, these are not things that come easily.? These are the things we struggle with.

Daily.

So many of us have been wounded and hurt by other women causing us to retreat and build walls around ourselves.? Sheltering fortresses that lock out the very thing we need the most.

Relationship.

It is absolutely necessary for us to plant the seeds of friendship.? To carefully tend the gardens that we plant, creating roots that run oceans deep.

We must RISK it all for the sake of loving and being loved,? for the sake of creating community with one another.

We must learn to love well.? Placing priority on making the most of every moment?. every day.

And, friendship is the soil in which the seeds of love are sewn.

Authentic relationships? give us the opportunity for Christ?s love to excel and to propel?

Each of us.

To the place we are called to be.

A place of community with one another.

What kind of seeds are you planting today?.? and how will you tend your garden?

BLOOM my friends?

RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED.

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Two are better than one; because they have 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!? Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NIV

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