Faith, Family and Friends: Friends, Faith, and Food ~

"Be completely humble and gentle;

be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Make every effort to keep the unity of the

Spirit through the bond of peace."

~Ephesians 4:2-3 (NIV)

* * The following is part of my devotional for today.
I found truth within it. Maybe you will, too. * *

"One of the wisest pieces of advice on friendship I ever got was from one of my daughters. She was in middle school at the time. You know that awkward place where insecurities run rampant, hormones rage, and your best friend one day becomes your worst enemy the next? So lovely.

She got in the car one day with tears filling her eyes. She waited until we pulled out of the school parking lot to let all her hurt leak down her cheeks.

"Rough day?" I asked.

"Awful," she replied.

I turned down the radio, waited until we were at a red light, and reached for her hand. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Nope," she whispered as she turned her face away from me toward the window. The rest of the night she sulked around the house. And no matter how many times I tried to get her to talk, this normally very vocal child wouldn't open up.

The next morning, I was surprised when she bounded down the stairs with a smile on her face.

"Well hey! You sure look happy this morning," I said as I lifted up quick thank you prayers to God for whatever had brought back the sunshine to my girl's life.

"Mom," she said with great authority, "I've decided something about friends. They all have good stuff and bad stuff. Things you like and things that really annoy you. So, you just have to decide if you can handle their package deal."
How wise. How true.

Friends are a package deal. And sadly, not all friendships will stand the test of time. Some friendships are for a season. But other times, we have to be willing to deal with the messy stuff to fight for our friendships."

I am blessed with an awesome circle of Godly best friends that support me, laugh and cry with me, and He is constantly bringing more into this circle. There are those that have fallen away for one reason or another. There are those that are there through thick and thin, and though you may not see them but a few times a year it's as if you saw them yesterday. Below are recent photos of a fashion show a few of us attended. There was sharing, laughing, food! and we had such fun.