Good Friends are Good

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.  Proverbs 13:20

“I thanked God every day for my food, I never thought to thank Him that I could eat it.” An “old” friend said this after he had had a tracheotomy. He could no longer eat solid foods and saw that he had taken his ability to eat for granted for many years.

A conversation about friendships has gotten me thinking.

We talked about the kind of dependencies we develop on others, the kind of interaction, whether spiritual or superficial, and the kind of spoken or unspoken covenants we form. I left that conversation a little unsettled about how much I actually invest in my own friendships.

I am blessed with several women who are faithful friends in spite of the fact that I am inconsistent with my contact.

I have old friends whom I see regularly – but not frequently. We have talked about how comfortable that is for us. We go way back – first and second grade. There are no explanations necessary for the way we think. We knew each other’s parents and what took place in each of our homes.

I have a college roommate that I consider a close friend. We are coming off of years of raising kids and growing businesses two hours apart. We rarely see each other but love opportunities to talk on the phone. I feel like I have spent an hour with a therapist when she calls – all my problems disappear!

Then, there are my friends who are near, physically and spiritually. I am grateful for these women who hear me out when I am trying to make a decision or mourning a loss. The others would also do this but sometimes face to face is more satisfying.

God has provided a few Christian sisters who are wise and so, as the Proverb says, I am wiser from having been in their company (Proverbs 13:20). Proverbs 27:9 says that the sweetness of a friend comes from his (in my case “her”) earnest counsel.

I don’t know if my friends know how grateful I am for each one of them. I am not the “gushy girlfriend” kind. Though I don’t expect that will change, I want to be grateful to God for each of these women He has placed in my life.

I’d also love to find a way to show them how much she means to me.

I feel like our old friend. I have often thanked God for my friends but I have rarely thanked Him, or told them how thankful I am, for the wisdom and grace they have extended to me. I don’t want to take them for granted.

Are you, too, thankful to God for your friends? How can you let them know?