grateful for friends

John 15:13 NLT
There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.

It is Veterans Day here in the USA.  I am grateful for the men and women who have served our nation and fought for our freedom.  That is another true definition of a friend.  They might not be my neighbor, I might not know their name or maybe even never met them, yet I count them as my friend, every veteran, because of the price they paid and time they gave to serve.  If you are a Veteran, thank you!

I love the story that I have read a few times of a group of military men walking through an airport.  One I remember was a single person that began to clap.  Before long everyone around these troops was clapping and chatting and giving high fives.  Another story talks about being thankful and every time you see one of these men and women place your hand over your heart and mouth the words thank you.  It doesn't take much, but it will mean a great deal.

We have so much to be thankful for as a nation, as families and as children of God.  Thank a Veteran today.

I have had several conversations with friends this week that have make me grateful for friends.  Let me share just a couple of those with you today:

Over the table I talked with young guy who was strung out on drugs not many years ago.  The stories I heard were about the pain he and his family went through from his horrible choices, yet the awesome word I heard was that "God has a plan and that is why I am still here".  The guy said he is now making right choices by the grace of God for his own good and the good of his family.  It was so awesome to here him talk about his little boys talking about Jesus.

Another friend is considering a job change which would move him across country.  As we talked about the job, our faith and family, it evident to see how important relationships are and how we measure what we do in how it will impact our friends when we follow God by faith.  This guy has a powerful testimony as well.

I got a call from another friend who has been struggling with helping a couple of other people for a while.  Through our conversation and prayer time this lady talked about how being a friend is not always easy, but doing the right thing is always what God expects.  That is a real friend who is willing to do whatever it takes to really help someone we care about.

Again I was sitting across the table from a new friend who shared some knowledge that wasn't easy to hear.  But what I heard not only stretched my thinking, it also reminded me that our choices have consequences for others.  It is so important to think of others.  Be honest.  Is that the first thought on our minds?  Often it is the 2nd or further down the line.

Philippians 2:4 NLT
Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

I am grateful for friends who stick in there with me.  I want to be that kind of friend.  In so doing, we become a picture of who Jesus is and what He would do.  Are we friends who model Jesus to others?  I'm grateful for friends who are first committed to God and then committed to me.  Be one.  I am.

Proverbs 18:24 NLT
There are "friends" who destroy each other,but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.