People Seeds

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13 NIV)"

I have a blessed life. I can't count the blessings God has given me because they are so numerous. How magnificent He is to me and my walk with Him. He has planted so many seeds for me; all of which are carefully planned and used to draw closer to Him. 

As I sit and ponder all the wonderful things God has given me over the years, one thing that stands out more than most is this: my TRUE friendships. These are friendships that 

...stand the test of time

...repair themselves

...are real; no fakeness

...beyond emotional for me to talk about

...are each some kind of reflection of my relationship with Jesus

...are important

These are my People Seeds.

God knows how I work and what motivates me; people and emotions. Since having kids it seems my time is limited and my memory as well. Which makes my time even more valuable than before. Over the past year, God has really shown me my true, lasting, friends. Without each of these relationships I would not be any closer to God. Each has drawn me closer to Him or kept me from straying from His straight path...has also kept me from being "high and mighty". Each relationship pushes me to be pure, honest, loving, forgiving, and grounded. To be as REAL as possible. Of course, I've met people that have made some kind of impact on my life and I enjoy their company.  But these people, these SEEDS that God has given me, have changed me for the better and in more ways than I can count. 

Once, back in college, one of these friends said to me, "Elly, I don't need a friend that only tells me the good stuff. I need a friend who is honest and isn't too uncomfortable to tell me the not so nice stuff."  Ever since then, I've known that all my friendships must be, just that...REAL.  

In one of my small groups, we did a study on Friendship. They say that we should each have at least 3-4 friends to call on for support. However, in our society today of social media, people are making fewer deep connections with others and may only be able to name one person. One of our pastors spoke a few weeks ago about how important it is to have a community of support. I am blessed in knowing how many REAL friends I have. Friends that I can call about ANYTHING. Friends of all ages. Friends I can count on to be truthful even if I know the things I NEED to hear are not what I WANT to hear.  Friends that would lay down for me. A Community. Each one of them are so special to me. I could go on and on of the numerous times each person has guided me, given me advice, called me out in my wrongings, but I would go on forever...or at least for a long time. 

I just want to thank you. Thank you for keeping me on a steady path towards love and a stronger relationship with God. Thank you for putting up with my emotions and tears. But most of all, I just thank you for being my REAL friend. Because in the end, that's what we all need.  Truth and love. I only pray that people get to experience the same kind of relationships with which I've been blessed. 

Love you to pieces and thanks for the seeds...