Happy Friday, friends.
Did this week drain anyone else out there? Reflecting on the past seven days, mine were popping at the seams with adventure, spilling over the brim with excitement, and completely overflowing with activities to partake in. Ironically, the events of the past week most certainly drained me in various ways but also filled me up in other aspects. Life is funny like that.
Needless to say, I am welcoming the weekend with open arms.
Today I'm simply resting-dwelling in the Presence of the Almighty, enjoying time with my precious roommate, catching up on a bit of reading. We may bake cupcakes this evening or watch a movie on Netflix. We'll probably end up doing both. Today is sweet.
Yesterday evening, I had a time of fellowship with some dear friends of mine. We wanted to catch up on each other's lives; we needed to catch up on our textbook readings and class assignments. The result was sort of a combination of both. By the end of the time, I had a moment of realization that reminded me how thankful I am for two gifts: real, faith-friends and the enjoyment of the presence of such friends.
Do you have faith-friends? Are there people in your life that care about you-and all that makes up you? Is your community an uplifting one? Are your friends ones that will cry with you, pray for you, and laugh alongside you? Is there someone you can simply sit with? Are there friends who ask you how you're doing-and push you further when your answer is, 'fine', or, 'good!'? Do you have sweet lovelies that you can drink tea and talk about happy things with? Is there a friend in your life that you can think out loud in front of? Laugh at the randoms with? Be ridiculous with?
I've been blessed with the best of the best [but maybe I'm a little biased].
In our time together, we bounced from light-hearted silliness to deep-seated theology to real life discussion. I love that.
We grow with each other. We learn from each other. We spur on one another-in love. I rejoice in that.
Friends such as these are the ones I want in my life-perhaps even the ones I need in my life-because they center their entire perspective of community around faith. Relationships focused on godly attributes produce unbreakable ties and the most splendid of fruit.
Jesus loved everyone. He reached out to the lost, provided for the needy, and humbled Himself before every man. I love that He also desired close-knit community. He invested closely in the lives of those He loved deeply. He had a circle of dear friends-dear disciples-and they walked through life together. He displayed the truth that isolation leads to death of all sorts: spiritual, emotional, mental, and even physical. He didn't surround Himself with the perfect people, the cool people, or the ones who would further His reputation or promote His social status, but rather He gathered 'round the ones who asked the hard questions, who delighted in the joyful, and who lived the messy. He communed with real, imperfect, beautiful people that sought to know the heart of God, and we should do the same.
Something to remember, though, is community itself is not what we should aim for. Fellowship for the sake of socializing is not the goal. Servanthood is the goal, while community and fellowship are the products. Out of love I serve my friends, and out of love they serve me. The end result is a glorious masterpiece that God with all of His characteristics creates. When we serve one another in love, we are blessed with real friendships. Servanthood yields communal results.
Here's what I've discovered: I need real friendships. As C.S. Lewis said, 'You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body'. I have parts of me that are meant for fellowship. I have needs that call for the prayers of other people. It's true that all we need is God, but we also cannot forget the purposes He made us to fulfill: to love and be loved.
I need you, and you need me. Apart, we will never be what we are supposed to be, but together our lives can make much of God.
Traveling through this life is living the messy.
We are not without hope.
Thank God for revealing His stunning nature to all of humanity and for visioneering us into being, making us for good works. Where would we be without His love?
