"Leave No Friend Behind"

"..one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:13,14

Spent the evening with some very special friends tonight who have been through difficult times.
It seems like, sometimes the best thing you can do for someone when they are hurting, is to just be there, to simply be 'available' to walk the journey with them. 
Little notes of hope, a phone call or text message can do wonders. Just reaching out, can be such an encouragement to pull them toward the light of a new day. 

You really don't...have to have all the right words....but you can learn to listen with both ears...so when they speak, their words can reach your mind. 
Too many times we are so worried about saying the right things and what others will say, that we end up saying nothing and avoiding the very ones we have been called to love.

It is time to lay down all the excuses. Recapture the friendships that you once held dear.
Forget what lies behind!!!
It is a deliberate effort to strain ('to make a strenuous or unusually great effort') toward the future and press toward the goal.... 

It is really not about us...the end goal is the prize of heaven....
A heaven filled with our Ultimate Love and with these very ones who walked this earth along side us.
Let's make it a point to forget the things that no longer matter, reach out to the ones who need us so dearly, and press on toward the prize.....

Make it a point to leave no friend behind....

As we strain towards the future, 'strenuous or unusually great effort', will be required.
We are called on this journey together.

Remember..."Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it" Isaiah 30:21
                                                                 

"Apples in the Cornfield"

"We're not ones to go 'round' spreading rumors,
why really, we're just not the gossipy kind,
you'll never hear one of us, repeating gossip,
so you better be sure and listen close the first time.."


Do you remember this song?
It's from the classic country show.."Hee Haw". It was a big event growing up in our house to 'get to',.. gather around the t.v. and watch this little slice of television history in the making.
There were always at least 2 or 3 girls catching up. They would laugh,smile and sing this song, while corn stalks..sprouted up, around them. It was just a little skit. 
We watched it every week. 
It's what we did for fun!!

Amazingly, this little tune, still is often floating around in the back of my mind, even after many years.


As I continue to think on the power of our words, I realize, this song, is not just a catchy little song. It is actually a snapshot of the kind of friends that we can be.


In our life, the 'stories' are about real people. They're about you and me.

Most of the time, I remember to say something kind or simply walk away, but ,...sometimes (ugh!!..)..I just listen.


I'm actually really good at keeping things to myself, and I think that is the very excuse I use when I hear some...(sadly called) 'good gossip'... Just like the song, I find myself in my own little cornfield listening 'close the first time'...


Everyday we get up, we can decide to start fresh. 
Be the kind of friend we 'want' to have.
Today....

Remember that the words we hear are about real people with real hearts.
Remember, that sometimes the 'skit' being played out in real life is about us (in a different cornfield)...
and then...
*Be the friend to speak up and say something positive on others behalf.
*Do it kindly, because we have all, (men and women alike) been in these conversations. Sometimes it's so easy to forget who we are and how we want to be treated...


Lets make it a point to say kind things about someone when we hear the negative comments sprouting up.


"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." Proverbs 25:11