{"id":768,"date":"2011-11-06T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2011-11-06T15:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=768"},"modified":"2011-10-29T00:18:36","modified_gmt":"2011-10-29T05:18:36","slug":"you-gotta-have-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=768","title":{"rendered":"You Gotta Have Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A few weeks ago I spoke at a women\u2019s retreat at the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, Alabama. This picture shows the presenters. I\u2019m the second one from the left \u2013 the cute one. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

This has sort of become a yearly gig for me and I look forward to it in mid October. A lot of the ladies have been coming for a few years and I\u2019ve really enjoyed getting to know them. There is something special about a group of women getting together to draw closer to God. Women tend to share similar emotions, experiences, and pressures. Some of us have coined the phrase, \u201cWhat happens in Alabama stays in Alabama!\u201d In other words, feel free to be yourself.<\/p>\n

I love my husband, but I love me some \u201cgirlfriend\u201d time.<\/p>\n

I think what makes this particular retreat even more endearing for me is that some of the women you see in this picture are more than just girlfriends; they are BFFs \u2013 women I would trust with my deep, dark secrets. Women I could spill my guts to without fear of condemnation or judgment! Women who love me just the way I am or should I say in spite of the way I am. What a blessing!<\/p>\n

When I call someone my friend I do not use the word lightly. Neither did Jesus. In John 15:15 Jesus said, \u201cNo longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imagine the disciple\u2019s surprise when he called them friends. He walked with them, talked with them, and even washed their feet. He shared intimate details of his own relationship with God the Father. He invited them to participate in that relationship. There was no greater friend they could have than Jesus.<\/p>\n

In John 15:13 Jesus also said, \u201cGreater love has no one than this, than to lay down one\u2019s life for his friends.\u201d I guess he meant that because that\u2019s what he did. He died for his disciples and he died for us. Jesus is our friend, too.<\/p>\n

I love the idea of Jesus being my friend. I can feel safe sharing my inner thoughts and feelings with him. I can trust him to look out for my best interest. He laughs with me when I\u2019m happy, cries with me when I\u2019m sad, comforts me when I\u2019m weary, stays with me when I\u2019m frightened and lets me know I will never have to go through life alone.<\/p>\n

As we travel life\u2019s highway friends can come and go. Sadly some BFFs will drift out of our lives. Sometimes they move and it\u2019s harder to stay in contact. Sometimes they get offended and no amount of apologizing can soothe the hurt. Sometimes they change and don\u2019t want to have us in their inner circle any more.<\/p>\n

However, the friendship we have with Jesus can remain constant. He will always be available to spend time with us. He will never get offended if we share our secret thoughts with him. He will always be willing to forgive and forget. Jesus does not change. If our friendship with Jesus dwindles it\u2019s because we no longer desire to be friends with him. We will always be welcome into that Trinitarian \u201cinner circle\u201d \u2013 Father, Son, Holy Spirit and us.<\/p>\n

Remember the old song You Gotta Have Friends? Well, we can\u2019t have a better friend than Jesus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago I spoke at a women\u2019s retreat at the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, Alabama. This picture shows the presenters. I\u2019m the second one from the left \u2013 the cute one. \ud83d\ude42 This has sort of become … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}