Some things just don't need a picture and this is one of those times when I think I'll just leave the picture out of my thoughts. Last night I had the pleasure of watching a dear friend get baptized. The pleasure wasn't just in seeing her baptized, it was realizing that I was sitting in a church pew, surrounded by friends that had not always been in my life. My job has opened many doors for me over the years and a lot of different people have crossed my path. Last night, all of the eight women that sat around me represented some of those special people that I would not have known had I not met them through work.
To my left were two friends that had worked together and been best friends for almost 40 years. When you see one, the other one is by her side. If you're friends with one, you are friends with both. They've raised children together, they've worked side by side and when one got cancer, the other one stayed right next to her as only a true friend can do. To my right was a newer friend that truly loves the Lord. To hear her say the blessing over our food was a blessing within itself. She can sing all the hymns without the songbook! And in front of me were all types of women in my life...one battling cancer, one that had been one of my own best friends for over 20 years along with other women that had survived divorces, hearthaches, losing parents. Our friend that was being baptized sat farther down to my right, next to her husband who is battling cancer. We were there for her, and for him. We had cried together when we heard his news just a few weeks ago. We have all sent up many prayers for him as he goes through chemotheraphy. We all believe in miracles.
Each of us have been through a lot and we aren't perfect, and we never will be. As a matter of fact, when the preacher mentioned Jezabel, we all straightened up in our seats and looked at each other. We'd been down that path too, some of us. In some way, I could count on each of them for anything I might need. I don't know of one that sat surrounding me that I couldn't call in the middle of the night and they'd come. One might bring a pot of soup, one might bring a book for me to read and one might bring a margarita....but if I called, they would come. And they would stay and they would give orders to everyone that walked through the door.
During the sermon it dawned on me that we were each broken in some way. Some of us had picked up the broken pieces in our lives and tried to put them back together and failed miserably. Some had always been strong and faithful, plowing through every crisis like a bull, never stopping to cry or give up, just marching right through and telling the devil to get the heck out of the way! One thing I knew for sure about each and every one of us was that we had one thing in common, we are forgiven. By the wonderful Grace of God, we are each forgiven and He has super-glued us back together and pushed us forward in our lives. When one of us falls, we can count on each other to help hold us up. I'm praying these friends will be by my side for many years to come. And I know that God will be behind us all, picking up the broken pieces, super-gluing us back together and making us stronger with each heartache, each loss, each illness that we endure.
Thank you God for these friends and thank you for bringing us together through a friend's baptism. My prayer is that you keep us as strong as the love and super-glue you have used to hold us together through tough times. And I hope that we all stay close to one another.
