This week, I received a special gift. In the midst of crazy weather, marathon meetings and looming deadlines, some of my friends showed up from around the country and made time to share a meal together. Every one of them is a unique personality. Each of our relationships are different. When we came together, it was pure #joy!
You see, I believe that true friendship is a gift from God. The kind of friendship that is #covenantal in nature is the kind of friendship that makes all the difference in the way that you see your world. It is grounding and provides a type of #shelter that can only be a blessing of God. This kind of friendship is nonjudgmental; yet it holds accountability as a key value. This kind of friendship can be difficult to navigate because it requires a level of transparency, honesty, and trust that grows you, challenges you, sometimes makes you mad because you have to hear a truth that you may not yet be willing to face. But you stick around for and through it all because you know that you need the gift.
This is spiritual friendship. It cannot be manufactured or acquired. It can only be gifted to you. And when it is, you look up one day and you thank God, with abounding #joy and gratitude, for the gift of friendship.
For all the friends that have been the gifts of #covenant, #shelter and #joy to and for me, thanks be to God!
Jasmine Rose Smothers 