True Friends

God has so beautifully placed many women in my life that I have no choice but to be grateful to Him each and every day. These women---all of them true women of God—have taught me about who He is, and who He has created me to be.
I can be myself—always—no matter what with these friends.

You know a true friend is true when you can vent, cry, and weep with her, and she will listen.

You know she is true when she sees the gifts God has given to you clearer than you can see them, and she encourages you to foster them.

You know she is a true friend when she tells you what you need to hear, even when you don’t particularly want to hear it!

Words are not enough to show my gratitude and appreciation for all of my true friends.

My prayer for all who are reading this is that you will recognize the true friends in your life, and thank God for them today.

And for those of you who cannot seem to relate to having these kinds of friends, my prayer is that you will seek God’s face today, and ask Him for divine appointments to enable you to find your true friends.

Please visit Take Root and Write's Open House Monday, July 14! Maria, Kim and Julie will be just a few of the writers participating in this amazing site. Maria will encourage special need families. Kim will ignite those with a stirring for adoption. Julie will journey with readers as they claim victory and freedom through surrender. Do sign up for the e-mail subscription service so you don't miss a column!
http://www. takerootandwrite.com

Maria and her family reside in NE Ohio. She and her husband are the parents of two. Their daughter is a person with hemipelegic cerebral palsy.
Because of her experiences, Maria provides parent-to-parent support for families involved in her local early intervention program. Her gift for writing has come directly from the Lord since her daughter’s diagnosis.
She writes a monthly column entitled, “Special Parents, Special Kids” for the Mahoning Valley Parent magazine in Ohio; and has expanded into Parent magazines in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
She is also a contributing author at www.mommiesmagazine.com. Maria's first published work is in Jan Ross and Jeanice McDade's Women of Passion's anthology, "Ordinary Women Serving an Extraordinary God". The book is available for purchase by clicking on the book image on the right side of this blog.
Maria is very passionate about getting the word out to special parents that they are not alone in their journey of raising their special child; and that they were chosen by God to parent their children. Maria welcomes comments and communication as well as invitations for her to speak to your group.

What a Friend!

Although my sinuses are rebelling from weather changes and lack of taking better care of myself, I just finished an amazing weekend with my best friend.

Kim and Maria are great friends that I confide so much in, learn from, and boy do we laugh. What sets my other friend apart and categorizes her as a best friend is this:

Time.

When I introduce her, people actually say "oooh and ahhh" when I announce we have been friends since kindergarten. She let the adult Sunday School class know our ages, so I can assure you, kindergarten was quite a long time ago. Our friendship has seen ups and downs and even a time of rebellion on my part when I wanted nothing to do with the Christian faith she kept talking about. I'm grateful for her obedience because without her following through on the Holy Spirit's nudge, I don't even want to think about where I'd be.

Trust.

Because I've known her longer than anyone else besides my sister and mom, we have a trust. She has seen me through everything. Although my husband is my closest confidante, there are things she knows about my life. I don't think I have skeltons in the closet but she saw first hand some of the pain I had growing up, just as I did with her. She was a catalyst God used to help me start the healing process after a miscarriage. I can share anything with her and I know she's got my back, and vice versa.

Truth in Love

Unfortunately those closest to you aren't always able to say what they are thinking and have it be received well. I don't know how to explain it but my friend can say the same exact thing and I'll receive it, when a family member could have said it ten times before and I just don't get it. She speaks the truth in love, usually in a sandwich way of knowing I need affirmation, but questioning the situation out until I come up with the answer on my own. I tend to be more blunt with her, I think, but she trusts me as a voice God would use to further her walk in Him.

I share all this because with the trust issues both Kim and I wrote about here, being with my friend was a good visual on what I try to share with people who think I follow religion. Last night I watched Another Perfect Stranger and I liked how they tackled religion versus relationship.

What I have in Christ is a friendship. For all those times my friend and I collapsed on a bed sharing our heart, dreams and tears, that's what Jesus does too. Sometimes He has to bluntly tell me something, but it's always wrapped in love. I can trust Him, and as time goes on, our friendship only grows and deepens.

Do you have a best friend like this? Do you liken that friendship with yours with Christ? What makes it the same? Different? I'd love to see your thoughts on this.

Julie Arduini is a surrendered writer with her own blog, http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/. A graduate of the Christian Writers Guild, she blogs for the Christian Writers Forum Sundays as the mommy blogger and is the Forum's book club facilitator. She is active with FaithWriters and has several writings ready to publish in different books and anthologies in 2008-09.

To get to know her better, read her interview by Lynda Schab at: http://www.faithreaders.com/featured-author-details.php?id=33%20

To contact Julie, please use the e mail provided in our profile.

Happy Birthday Julie!

Today is Julie's birthday. It is time to celebrate! And since the narrow gate girls are writers my gift to her today is a gift of words. (After small group last night I planned on running out and buying her a little gift . . . well, you know how that goes - my kids are home for spring break, my group was here until 9:00, and so here goes.)

I met Julie at a women's retreat two years ago. Since then we have crossed paths at a Y bible study, in the child care room, and an occassional 'pizza' date here and there. Since I have two friends named Julie my husband calls her Pizza Julie. Most of our communication is done on-line since we both are notorious for losing our phones or letting the batteries run out. We laugh, cry, encourage, and have fun with one another.

Julie . . .the words that come to mind are spirit-filled writer, wife, mother, friend, and child of the Most High. You are an encourager, teacher, and mentor who sees things in others that they may not see in themselves. I love your honesty, your wit, and your faith in us. You have inspired me to go through the narrow gate even though I kept holding onto the 'door frame' because I felt unworthy. I thank the Lord for you and our friendship. You are a true blessing!

Happy Birthday! Kim

P.S.) No re-gifting!!! See previous post.