Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Psalm 121

I will lift up my eyes to the hills form which cometh my help.
My help cometh form the Lord which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved,
He that keepeth thee shall not slumber,
behold He that keepeth Israel shall not slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day or the moon by night,
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil,
He shall preserve thy soul,
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in
from this time forth and even forever more.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Friendship.

This is a tribute to all those that God has given to me as friends, but it is especially in honor of my friend Tiffany, whose birthday it was when I started typing this tonight...

This year has been a crash course in friendships, how very precious, very rare and very fragile they are. A few mouths ago I was reading the Four Loves by CS Lewis and I was struck by his description of friendship... read it, it's really good. The value that he placed on friendship coincided with what I have come to recently. He said that "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one!' " and that they will continue only as long as they have something in common, be it as trivial as stamp collecting or as serious as faith or as simple as shared memories "True friends... face in the same direction, toward common projects, interests, goals.” Another interesting quote is this: "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival". I feel that I am not doing justice to it... like I said, read it.

I regularly come up with a new best description of what differentiates a friend of the sort that you enjoy being with and the sort that is like family, the ones that you would die for. I can however, only remember three of them. They must have been really profound... Here are the first two:

A true friend is someone that you have spent untold hours laughing with and at least a few hours crying with (and over)
A true friend is someone that you have spent more time that you can count praying for.

I came across these quotes on friendship and thought that they where just too good to be left out
“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.”

A good friend is cheaper than therapy.

A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should.

I thank God often (but not often enough) for those that he has placed in my life as my friends. God has used my friends challenge me and cause me to think, to work with me, to laugh with me, and sometimes just to have someone to cry with. Overall, I think that a real, true, friend is one who either because of what they say or just who they are cause you to look up and seek the face of your Father. A real friend is someone who helps to make you more holy.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Robin's Birthday

My sister has always been one of the dearest people in the world to me, but this year I have realized just how indispensable a sister can be. I made a discovery: I find that when I am separated from her my max for staying off the phone "just to check in" is about two hours (okay so maybe that is a little of an extradition, but not much) I have further more concluded that Solomon was on to something when he said that two was better than one.

This year I have come to value her as more than a sister, I have really, truly come to appreciate her as my best friend. True friendship is a rare and precious gift, a gift that sold never be taken for granted or lightly esteemed, and God has been so gracious as to give the best and most precious of friends to be the best and most precious of sisters.

Each year I look at my sister and think what a beautiful young women she is becoming, this year is no different. As each year brings it's trial and tribulations, I see sanctification at work in her life and I think that God is truly making a breathtaking work of art in her. There are many things that I love and admire about my sister, but I asked myself what the thing that I most admired about her was, and my answer was this: Her passion for God. I look into her eyes and see a overwhelming desire to be holy. That is the sum of everything that I love and admire about her. She is a picture of a life that is sold out to being what God has called her to be, whatever that means. Her passion for godliness is always a challenge and an inspiration to me and she is one that always spurs me on toward godliness. Through thick and thin, she is my better half.

Robin, what would I do without you? You are my hero. I love you sooo much. Happy birthday, my dear.