Friendships

Gift Number Two - Knowing who your friends are!

As I walked away in tears, her accusations ran through my head.  Was any of it true? I wondered. Someone once told me that when someone criticizes you, there's often a grain of truth and it's important to look for it.  And there was some truth to what she was saying; she managed to twist it around and use it as a weapon, but it was there.  

It's funny how when you recall something like this, your heart can start beating faster - mine's beating faster as I type.  

One of her complaints was that I didn't answer her texts.  She's right, I didn't.   I don't carry my phone with me all the time and it was slightly broken.  Because I was getting a new one, it didn't really matter to me and I didn't think to tell her.  Because it's her form of primary communication, it was really important for her to know that.  She'd been sending me texts about the kids but I didn't get them and instead of asking me why I wasn't responding to her, she stored up her anger and socked it to me. It may seem like a petty thing and it appeared ridiculous to me at the time, but now I understand that to her, it felt like rejection.

After I walked away, I reflected on her words and did the smartest thing - I called my friend Terri.  I needed to talk about it with someone who knew me.  Terri's reassured me that I wasn't crazy and helped me put things into perspective.  A friend who knows you - really knows you - is a great blessing.  Leslie, another old friend who knows me, happened to e-mail me and I told her of my struggle.  Her offer to talk things through with me was like putting lip balm on chapped lips! 

My other neighbor, who saw my tears (because she lives across the street from me) also gave me words of encouragement, "What?! She's crazy! What's she talking about?"  So even in my sorrow, I experienced joy and God's comfort.

"A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity."  Proverbs 17:17