Saturday 26 April 2014

Five-Minute Friday: Friend

This week's Five-Minute Friday is a day late because we were travelling all day yesterday. I'll be honest. I looked at my email before we left our hotel and saw that the word was "friend" (side-note: that's how I do my five-minute Friday every week. I just look at the word and start writing. I don't read Lisa-Jo's post until I'm done because I don't want anything else to influence what I write. :)). Anyway, as I was saying, I saw the word was friend and I had my notebook in my purse so I thought I'd be able to write on the drive but I just kept drawing a blank. Literally. All that would go through my mind was the word "friend" repeated over and over again, sometimes with different tones (sounding pleasant, sounding sarcastic, etc). I guess that would be a post on its own - illustrating that types of friends (or so-called friends) we have in our life-times. But how do you write a post with only one word repeated the entire post and how do you show the different tones you hear when you think that word?! I will have to experiment and find a way. :) So, since Lisa-Jo graciously keeps the link up open for 6 days, I felt it would be alright to do mine on Saturday instead this time. :)

START

Friend

“... but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” ~Proverbs 18:24b

In my life of 34 years, I have had 3 people who I could count as true friends. One was an elderly lady who I counted as a friend when I was a little girl. Her name was Margaret Riediger and I would say she was one of the wisest and godliest women I have known! I liked to go visit her on my bike in her quaint little white cottage, having tea in her old fashioned kitchen (that she loved to keep that way) with a non-electrical stove. I think it might have still been wood burning? But that could just be me little girl imagination getting away from me. J She told me many stories about the old country – she had immigrated from Russia, and a lot of stories about how hard it was there, also for Christians. And now I’m positive she said Russia but Riediger doesn’t sound like a Russian name. She was a beautiful friend and I found out (a year after it happened) that she passed away the day before my first child was born. I miss her!

Another dear friend was a roommate I had in college (NABC) my second year there. Andrea Crump (now Anderst) was the best kind of friend! She’s bubbly, which is a great contrast to my quiet. She’s a godly woman as well. She accepts people for who they are but also holds them accountable to the higher standard we all follow (being Christians we must live to God’s standard, not our own). She had such a good, gentle way of setting me straight if I was way off in some thoughts or actions. She was a dear friend and I regret loosing as much contact with her as I have. I definitely need to reconnect!

And now, in my life with a family, I have one more similar friend. Crystal Page (formerly Neufeld) started out as a colleague, being our TA at Faith Academy. She quickly became a friend. She holds much of the same wisdom and kindness that Andrea has. She is a gentle friend and is also great at holding me accountable. Now that we are both wives and moms, we can get to know each other on a different level and learn and grow from each other. I love that when we get together we can talk about EVERYTHING: weather, kids, culture, theology and we never run out of things to talk about. I love that our kids can also build a wonderful friendship. I pray this friendship continues to grow and grows stronger through the months and years.

These are the types of friends I believe the Proverb above refers to. And I thank God for them daily. He placed the perfect people in my life when I need them!

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Five Minute Friday

8 comments:

  1. It's wonderful to have a true friend. How blessed you are to have these three wonderful women in your life.

    Visiting from FMF. Have a great weekend.

    ~ Cassandra from Renaissance Women

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  2. I would have loved Ms. Margaret's kitchen! Sounds heavenly. :)

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    1. Oh it was! If ever my family didn't know where I was, that was one of the first places they looked! :) She had so many things from a different era in that kitchen and baked the most delicious treats (even homemade dinner buns were a treat in her kitchen!) :) Thanks for stopping by! :)

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  3. This one made me smile for sure! (N)

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    1. Thanks! :) And thanks for visiting my blog! :) It's nice to know people read it! :)

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  4. How awesome that God has blessed you with three godly friends who bring out the best in you :). Cheering you on from the FMF sidelines! Have a wonderful week.

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    1. Our God is an awesome God! :) Thanks for visiting! :)

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