Friends

Proverbs 18:24, "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (NKJV)

I was blessed by the responses that I received concerning the post that I made on Thursday.  Your responses reminded me that there are many people who recognize the importance of friends in their relationships of life.  We not only recognize the importance of those friends but we also cherish and appreciate those individuals who have made an impact on our lives.  Yesterday, I heard from some people with which I have a long-term friendship as well as those who have recently become part of that circle of friends.  I have been blessed to see the development of what I term "casual friendship" into a life long connection with that individual person.  My wife has a friend who lives in the state of New York; her and Linda have been friends since they met in the fifth grade in Huntsville, Alabama.  I can overhear the laughter in their phone conversations and I can sense the care and concern they have for each other as they exchange those special cards at Christmas time as well as the remembrance of each other's birthday.  We have to exhibit the characteristic of being friendly if we desire to develop that circle of friends that we need and that many of us desire. 

I encourage each of you to reach out to a few of your friends today through a personal phone call or even one of the social media outlets and share with them your appreciation for their friendship.  I have developed many new friends as I traveled on my evangelistic journey over the past few years.  Rest assured that your connection through this blog as well as other media outlets is a wonderful source of encouragement to me.  The new friendships that we have developed in the New River Worship Center church family has made a lasting impact on our lives and for that we are able to celebrate today.  And last but not least I say thank you for those "seasoned" friends who have offered their love and support to me for many years of my life.  I also want my wife to know that she is still my best friend and confidant; her support and encouragement has provided me the strength to persevere throughout the challenges of my life.  The more I write the more I realize that I could continue adding special groups of people to the above mentioned individuals but time, space, and your patience will not suffer me that opportunity.  I just want each of you to know that God has placed some wonderful people in my life and I cherish, appreciate and love each of them.