Topic > Relationships > Friendship >
Friendly Wounds
I received an email from a close friend with the subject line “I’m too old for this!” His email told of his recent ordeal riding a roller coaster with his 12-year-old son. He said that the ride lasted only a minute, but it was miserable. He didn’t get physically sick, but he also didn’t want to eat for the rest of the day.
Simple Tables
I have a friend who has spent most of his life with people who live on society’s margins: People experiencing poverty or homelessness, those who wrestle with addictions or simply exist outside the mainstream, anyone who might be considered an outcast. “That’s where I seem to fit,” my friend says. “On the edges.” He helps believers in Jesus learn how to be in true friendship with those who are different. “This kind of friendship isn’t as complicated as we like to make it,” my friend insists. “Often it’s as simple as knowing someone’s name and how they like their coffee.”
Jesus the Reconciler
I live in a region and neighborhood that share a tragic racial history. For instance, the daughter of one of my elderly neighbors was part of a civil suit to force area schools to obey federal law and desegregate. As I’ve spoken with my neighbors, I’ve had to grapple with the racial divide in my country, with the many ways people have yet to fulfill God’s mandate to be agents of reconciliation.
Why We Spent 15 Years in the “Friend Zone”
Yes, that’s the number of years my husband, Jonathan, and I knew each other before we got married. I guess you could consider us living examples of the saying, “The best relationships start off as friendships”.
When He said He Didn’t Like Me
Relationships. Many of us, myself included, crave to be in one. There was a time in my life when I was head over heels with this guy, whom I shall refer to as Andy.
The Lonely Season
Amid the pile of post-Christmas mail I discovered a treasure—a handmade Christmas card painted on repurposed cardstock. Simple watercolor strokes evoked a scene of wintry hills livened with evergreens. Centered at the bottom, framed by red-berried holly, was this hand-printed message:
Peace be with you!
The artist was a prisoner and a friend of mine. As I admired his handiwork, I realized I hadn’t written to him in 2 years!
Long ago, another prisoner was neglected as he waited in prison. “Only Luke is with me,” wrote the apostle Paul to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:11). “No one came to my support, but everyone…
Good Influence
We have two 5-month-old puppies that are energetic and love to explore. Azusa, the female, is the one filled with true wanderlust. Seymour simply becomes her partner in crime when he tries to keep up in a wild game of chase. From the same litter, they sleep together, eat out of the same bowl, and nestle against each other for comfort. Seymour’s affinity to follow his sister out the door, however, shows that misplaced loyalty can lead one astray.
messages made public
Hackers broke into the servers of a major US movie studio and leaked large amounts of confidential information. They released movies, scripts, salaries, and troves of salacious emails. Mortified executives quickly apologized for their racist riffs and disparaging remarks about movie stars. But the damage had been done. One celebrity, having learned she was called a “minimally talented, spoiled brat,” said she could not promote her movie because she suddenly had the chicken pox. Worse, the leaked emails left the company vulnerable to blackmail. The hackers promised to release more gossipy texts unless the studio stopped the release of a…
Why Miscommunication Happens so Often
Have you had a friendship or relationship sour because of poor communication? Perhaps a boss did not tell you something in advance but eventually blamed you for not completing an assignment on time. Or, some project group mates did not tell you that they needed help—until the deadline came.
odd couples
Wolves devour lambs. Leopards pounce on goats. A calf is never safe around a lion, and neither is a child! Though very touching, the picture of predators living in harmony with their prey can strike us as naïve. Prophetic pictures of such a scene have been interpreted different ways, but the image is striking. So, how different would things have to be for animals to be able to live like that? Perhaps not that different at all.
Bringing Our Friends to Jesus
During my childhood, one of the most feared diseases was polio, often called “infantile paralysis” because most of those infected were young children. Before a preventive vaccine was developed in the mid-1950s, some 20,000 people were paralyzed by polio and about 1,000 died from it each year in the United States alone.
In ancient times, paralysis was viewed as a permanent, hopeless condition. But one group of men believed Jesus could help their paralyzed friend. While Jesus was teaching in the village of Capernaum, four of the men carried the man to Him. When they couldn’t reach Jesus because of the crowd,…
Taming Our Tongues: 3 Questions to Ask
Most of us might be familiar with the old adage, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me”. My English literature teacher used to counter that saying.
2 A.M. Friends
A friend told me about a group of people who share a strong bond of faith in Christ. One of them, a 93-year-old woman, said, “I feel like I can call any of you at 2 a.m., and I don’t even have to apologize if I feel the need for any type of assistance.” Whether the need is prayer, practical help, or someone to be there during a time of need, these friends are unconditionally committed to each other.
The same sense of commitment shines through Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Colossae. Writing from prison in Rome, Paul…
New “Dislike” Button: Like or Dislike?
It’s official: Facebook is working on a “dislike” button for your posts—after reportedly refusing to build one for a really long time.
Contrary to what it sounds like, the button is meant to provide a way for people to express empathy—not negativity—says founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Sharing Your Faith: What Not to Do
Christianity is contagious and yet, in this world of easy communication and hundreds of different beliefs, sharing the gospel with family, friends, dentists, garbage collectors, colleagues, enemies, taxi drivers, teammates or others can often go awry pretty quickly—without us even knowing why.
