A Really Good Friend of Jesus
“Did you find any friends at the pool today?”I asked my dripping crew yesterday as we drove home from an afternoon of swimming and sunning.
My towel-wrapped passengers murmured a clipped response, and then Hannah asked, “How about you, Mom? Did you find any friends at the pool today?”
I flashed Hannah a smile in the rear-view mirror and replied, “As a matter of fact, this afternoon I ran into a VERY SPECIAL friend that I haven’t seen in years.” Hannah clapped her hands in glee and I continued my story as l shared about my surprise visit near the water slides with a dear old friend from high school.
“This guy,” I told my kids, “is the NICEST man I’ve ever met besides Daddy.” I told the kids of how we’d met in the second grade when the teacher paired us up as reading partners. And how this then-little-boy had stood up for me when I was getting teased on the playground because I was singing a Sunday School song while I jumped rope. I reminisced how years later when I was feeling alone as many of my classmates were choosing to drink and party, this dear friend would take me out for ice cream and make me laugh until my sides ached.
“That’s probably why he was one of Daddy’s best friends,” Lizzy said.
“Definitely,” I agreed as I explained how we had been invited to read scripture at this young man’s wedding. I eyed my captive audience in the rear-view mirror and admitted with a giggle that when I’d finally met my friend’s precious wife, I was thrilled. Thanks to my buddy’s great taste in women, I gained an instant new friend who was just as sweet as (or even SWEETER than) her husband.
“He does sound REALLY NICE,” Hannah declared while I nodded my head in affirmation.
The storytelling was beginning to wane when Joshua piped up from the car seat behind me. “That guy must be one of Jesus’ REALLY GOOD friends.”
I thought about my friends’ thriving faith, and I smiled. “Yes, buddy, he IS one of Jesus’ really good friends.”
My four year old’s innocent assumption spun through my mind long after I’d tucked my little boy into bed for the night. Kindness is a mark of friendship with the Savior. Disquieted by the simple surmise, I wondered: Do the little eyes that watch carefully each day recognize me as one of Jesus’ REALLY GOOD friends?”
Oh, that the answer to that question might be yes.
Oh, that the answer to that question might be yes.
The Overflow: You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.
-John 15:15
Who needs to ask the four year old? I KNOW you’re one of Jesus’ best friends (and one of mine, too!)
Can you ask him if he thinks I’m one of Jesus’s really good friends!!??
I hope he answers YES!!!
Otherwise…I better get to work!