Friendship

when i awoke this morning Friendship was on my heart in a BIG way!

Friend. n. person known well and liked

Partners in friendship, an interpersonal relationship between humans

*Value that is found in friendships is often the result of a friend demonstrating the following on a consistent basis:

• The tendency to desire what is best for the other
• Sympathy and empathy
• Honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth, especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of one's counterpart
• Mutual understanding and compassion
• Trust in one another (able to express feelings - including in relation to the other's actions - without the fear of being judged); able to go to each other for emotional support
• Positive reciprocity - a relationship is based on equal give and take between the two parties.
• Whereby you can be oneself & make mistakes without fear of judgement.

*thanks wikipedia for the help. i couldn't have explained it better myself. HA

Source: browneyedbellejulie.blogspot.com via Tedi on Pinterest

this is what the bible says about friendship:

John 15:12-15 

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

an example of  biblical friendship:

Ruth 1:16-17 

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”

*side note:  during my 4th pregnancy (i miscarried) after my youngest, my oldest was learning about Ruth and Naomi in school. He came home one day and said, "Momma if the baby is a girl we should name her Naomi. Because Naomi was patient, and we have been patiently waiting to have another baby. Because we want lots of us." Since then the story of Ruth and Naomi has been dear to my heart. it's a beautiful story and i just LOVE his interpretation of it. it is beautiful.

C.S. Lewis on friendship:

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”

“Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of
Christian friends 
by a good fire?”

“The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.”

You all mean so much to me! I just thought you should know!