A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24
A friend I’ve had since high school called me yesterday afternoon to let me know that she would be providing supper for me and my husband. You have no idea what a blessing that was.
I won’t lie, it’s been rough lately. For over a month now, I’ve been going with my husband four days a week to dialysis so I can learn how to administer it at home. In addition to dealing with that, his body has been trying to reject the liver he got five years ago.
I already had friendship on my mind before my friend’s supper offer came through. You’ve probably seen posts from Toni Shiloh and Jaycee Weaver about the collection of Christmas wedding stories we released along with Mikal Dawn and Teresa Tysinger titled Something Borrowed.
It’s about six college roommates’ journey down the aisle toward happily ever after and is tied together by a tiara that is passed from one bride to another. It wasn’t one of those projects where we each wrote our separate stories and then sent it on its way to be added into one collective book. There was a lot of collaborating between authors. Some of the friends ended up being mentioned in multiple stories.
Something happened along the way as we connected these stories together. We five authors formed a friendship. And I don’t mean the superficial type of friendship either. I mean the type where we stay in contact on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. The type where we share each other’s burdens and pray together. We share our joys too, which uplifts each of us through these trying times.
Unlike the friend who provided supper for me last night, I’ve never met these author friends in person, but that makes them no less real. I’m sure you have made connections both in person and on the internet. Here’s your chance to brag about how they have blessed your life. Use the comment section to give a shoutout to one of your friends.
Each of Andrea Boyd’s series represents a different genre but all fall into the category of romance. All offer an element of her own brand of humor. And all are a tribute to God. Besides writing, she loves spending time with her family, quilting, going to car shows, and driving around in her 1968 Barracuda convertible. Andrea lives with her husband, Tommy, and at least a couple of cats in York County, SC.
I have a friend in America Sheri. I have met her now but when we met she was picking me up from the bus station. She was late but when we met it was give me a minute (to turn off tablet) and we both carried some luggage to her car, got in and started driving. It’s then I said its like we have known each other all our lives and she was just picking me up to give me a ride. We both felt it and realised no hug or anything it just felt like it should be. We were friends for about 10 years before we met but it was like we knew each other forever. We may go weeks without chatting but we still have a special friendship.
I love how God orchestrates friendships in our lives. Some come and go, some last a really long time. I have friends that I’ve known for over 40 years. What a blessing! Thanks for the friendship reminder.
Prayers for you and your husband.
I have been blessed to “meet” some very special friends in this internet works, two of whom I met in person too!
My friend and I met 46 years ago. We were an unlikely pair to form such an enduring bond, but we did. We have always been there for each other and have made some amazing memories along the way. I have also walked the dialysis/transplant road with my niece. I’ll be praying for y’all!
I love you ladies to pieces!
I’ve been blessed with several dear friends over the years, and while closeness drifts in and out like the tides, my friend Molly has been a constant since 6th grade. We haven’t even lived in the same state since 1994, and yet thanks to the phone and internet we’re as close and silly as we were in the beginning.
My dearest friend entered my life in kindergarten. She’s the one who first told me about Christ. Although I now live 300 miles away, we stay in touch. When I’m in town, we shut places down just talking until they throw us out. We also have friends we made in middle and high school, and we have dinner with them each December. I treasure them.
That said, I have a prayer team and online friends that I have not met this side of heaven. They have been prayerful, encouraging, and just as loyal as if we met at a coffee shop.
Praying for you as you and your husband journey through this together.
I’ve met a couple of people like that before where there’s an instant connection. Love when that happens!
Thanks for the prayers! I have one friend I’ve been close to for almost that long. We can go for long periods of time without talking or seeing each other and it’s like no time has past.
My son calls my internet friends my “pretend friends,” but some of those connections are just as strong as my real life friends.
Thanks so much for the prayers! They mean more than anything else we can do for one another.
Love this!
That’s the best of all friends!
And thanks so much for the prayers. They mean everything.
I have a treasured friend Laurie. We met when we were about 13. That was 53 years ago. She moved 1000 miles away when she got married and we lost touch at one point for about 17 years. Thanks to social media we reconnected and said that it would never happen again. She came to visit some years back and it was as if we had never been apart. We now stay in touch over the phone and I know that she is my prayer warrior if I ever need it. We consider ourselves sisters more than just friends and joke about the fact that she is 2 weeks older than me. I am blessed to have in my life as well as the other friends I have met or connected with online and have not meet. Friendship no matter is in person or not should be treasured.
Completely agree with you 😘
I want to express my gratitude and love for my dear friend Elizabeth Maddrey. Although we have never met in person I felt an instant connection to her. I have read all her books and love them all. Yesterday was my 73rd birthday and she was the first friend to email me and wish me Happy Birthday. I Love You Elizabeth more than words can Express!
What a Great sounding book! I have met alot of author friends on the internet and reader friends also. I have an author friend who told me that she did not have any sisters and the only brother she had had passed away, so I told her she could be my little sister and we have become pretty good friends on the internet. Her name is Carol Koris and she is a very sweet lady and we call each other sisters. Have a Great weekend and stay safe. God Bless you and your family.
There are 2 women I have been blessed to be friends with for my entire life! One of them I met with a couple of weeks ago for the first time in almost 20 years. We had a huge falling out but we decided to put that behind us. It feels like we came home, just being together!
After becoming mostly home bound a few years ago I have also had the blessing of ‘meeting’ several online Christian friends and three of them I consider close friends. Two are authors and the other works in an online community and podcast. Val, Cheri & Jaime have become some of my strongest friends and prayer partners! I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am to God for bringing these ladies into my life at, of course, just when I needed this support the most!!! I don’t know if I will ever have the pleasure of meeting any of them in person but the best thing is that God put us together in the way I needed at the perfect time! I mean, really, how easy is it to shoot an email, text or instant message when an exciting happening, praise or prayer request comes up that I just have to share? I pray 2 things for these beautiful women of God: thanks for bringing them into my life and to help me to be a fraction of the blessing to them that they are to me!!!
Even though we are oceans apart, she is always in my herat and on my mind! I love that technology can bring us near :)
I have quite a few literary friends! I love when I can connect with characters as if they were part of my life, which in a way they are.
As for real friends, I don’t really have any except for my church family. My best friend from high school and I live over 2000 miles away. I grew up in Illinois and live on the Oregon coast now, so when I moved in 1996, I also lost being physically close to her. She was the only one that really “got” me :-) I really miss a close friend.
I have friends that I met way back in elementary school, and we still get together now when one of them comes back to visit. I have a friend from high school that I just met up with today to go walking with. We’re going to try to get together a couple of times a week from now on. I have two other friends that I met for lunch yesterday so we could go over a book we’re all reading together. I don’t know what I’d do without friends!
I would like to thank all the friends I have met through Facebook as well as these blogs. I am in the high risk category as well as being disabled. Thank you all for being there for me along this long year of Covid-19. It has become a very lonely year. You have all been a blessing to me.
I agree. And I’m glad you were able to reconnect with your friend!
Aww, that’s a sweet friend indeed!
Thanks, and I also have a couple of friends that call me sister. They’re the best!
God is good and His timing is always perfect. Glad you made amends with your friend!
One of the great things about tecnology!
Praying God brings you a local friend!
I love talking to people about books we’ve read! I need more of that in my life. Most of my family and friends are not readers.
Aww, thanks so much! This has been a rough year. I’m hoping things return to normal soon.
Thank you Andrea, I am too! We did talk about it but at our ages are very different than we used to be. We have grown and seen enough in life to realize and deal with our own failings rather than dwelling on those of anyone else. Age does bring a perspective shift!
Friendship – what a truly, wonderful relationship! A phone call, an email, a text, a facebook chat or a late night What’sApp message – facetime or non-facetime – coming from a dear friend, it is all wonderful and we need it.
So thankful for friendship and the kind who also make supper, precious indeed!
I still treasure just a few friends that I met in college (in the last millennium) with whom I can just jump right in and talk and listen and be on the same page. I can be a bit of a prickly pear where new relationships are concerned but I am so grateful for the people God brings into my life for kind encouragement and even provision.
❤
I can be a prickly pear at any time, so I’m grateful for friends who can look past that! 😁