The Christmas before or after I turned 16 (I have a terrible memory) my momma gave me this framed art. 10 years later, ahem 20 years later, lets just say a lot of years later, I still have this framed art. It has been packed and unpacked more times than I know. It's been in a storage unit for two years, or maybe it was three. Regardless of where it's been, how it's been displayed, or how much dust it has collected...the words ring just as true today as they did all those years ago.
My momma had no idea the impact these words would have on me throughout my life.
I'm a pretty guarded person. I don't have a lot of friends, but the ones I have are my friends for life. There is nothing they could say or do that would cause me to sever ties. Time and distance may mean we go a decade without seeing one another but when the day comes and we do see each other, it literally feels like it was only yesterday that we last talked.
My friendships are not perfect but there has never been a rift that God has not been able to mend. Two of my longest, deepest friendships both went through intense periods of silence. I didn't think our friendships would ever be restored. But there came a time where we swallowed our pride, we reached out and we asked for forgiveness. And this was before social media folks...we used the telephone. All these years later, we are still the dearest friends. We still don't see eye to eye on everything but we love each other despite our differences and faults (theirs, not mine) and respect each other's opinions enough to have wonderful friendships (and lively discussions).
Unknowingly, I've used this saying as a motto in life. No matter what I find out about you...no matter what happens in the future...my commitment is to love you.
This is an example of the most perfect love and friendship. The one with our Heavenly Father. He loves you! No matter what you've done, no matter what happens in the future. He loves you. He'll carry your burdens, He'll help you up when you fall, He'll pray with you. You don't have to respond or love Him back. He loves you and that's that! Who has ever loved you like that? Pure, unadulterated, unconditional love! No one but Jesus! I still fall short in my friendships but Jesus never will. When you feel like you can't reach out to anyone else in this world, He's there -waiting - with His arms open wide - ready to embrace you and love you with a love you've never known. A perfect love!
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