Friends

I think that the older we get, the more we really understand what it means to have friends, and to be a friend. God gives us friends as a reflection of His love for us in so many ways.  For instance, each of the friends in this picture with me are friends I consider more like sisters. Each one dear to me, and each one reflecting Christ to me. 

These sisters of mine are gifts to me from the Lord.  He has placed them in my life and I honestly do not know what I would do without them.  I want to be that same kind of sister to them.  I want be a reflection of God's love to them.  I want, somehow, to bless them in some way reflective of the way they have blessed me.  My sisters love Christ, and that makes this friendship all the sweeter.  I thank God for the many ways they walk along beside me in the journey of faith.....in this work in Uganda.....in mine and my husbands friendships with them and their husbands. I could list so many ways that they have given so unselfishly, so quietly, but I know they wouldn't want me to do that, so I say a special thank you to my Savior for them.  I thank Him for putting them in my life, in our lives....I thank Him for the wonderful persons they are.....and I ask Him to bless them, protect them, and to help them know how much I appreciate them. 
I have other sisters too....sisters in Uganda. Sisters that God has brought into my life in very special ways and through ways only He could.  These dear sisters are gifts to me as well. On this side of the world my sister-friends are my prayer warriors,

my hand holders, my much needed support system in every circumstance, and love and encourage me in ways that only they can.  My sister-friends in Uganda are equally as precious to me, and our friendship holds deep meaning and joy in my heart in that these friendships take me to levels I would not and could not go had the Lord not brought us together.  My friend Veronica, shown here, is the director of the Comforter Pregnancy Center in Kampala.....our friendship is special and unique....it is a prayerful encouragement friendship.....I love that, and I love Veronica. 

My friend Alice is a beautiful and precious sister-friend to me too.  Though we struggle to verbally communicate, her love for the Lord, and her desire to serve Him in ministry work with us,(and in support of our director Henry, who is her husband) is a silk ribbon that binds our friendship in ways that only God can.  Alice is a humble, kind, generous friend who shows God's love in her acts of mercy and kindness, in her prayers, and in her beautiful humility.  I thank God for Alice.  I so look forward to, and long to be in Uganda in a more full time capacity to be able to build upon those friendships, to encourage as I have been encouraged.  In each of my friendships, each so dear to my heart, I pray that I will be able to bless each one of them in some way as they have so richly blessed me.  My friends have each given me a glimpse of the love of God.  Each one has been the hands, feet, heart, and voice of Christ in my life.  I thank them......and I thank God for them!