Thank you to all those people who have been friends to me over the years.  I am so grateful for you! Some of the friends I made years ago in school are still good friends today. And I have made friends over the years at work, at church, through Toastmasters and even in my travels.

In my cricle of friends is that special group I call my cherished friends.  These friends have been there for me during the lowest parts of my life. I recall friends who listened to late night phone calls, sent bouquets of flowers, and wrote touching notes offering prayers which helped me get through tough situations. Today it is more common to get texts and emails from these friends, but each time a cherished friend reaches out to me, I feel uplifted.

Who are your cherished friends? It's probably not your entire Facebook list! Look instead at who has reached out to you in some way, has held your hand tightly, given you a needed hug, or even just offered a shoulder to cry on during the difficult moments. These are your cherished friends.  If you only have a few of these people in your life, that's okay. The quality of these friendships is what counts, not the quantity.

May you be blessed with many cherished friends!  I am including in today's post a poem I wrote several years ago for one of my cherished friends. May it inspire you to think about your friends - is there someone who may be hurting today and could benefit from a kind word from you? Who can you reach out to today?

Faye

Face to Face

I don’t want to look into your face,

For I am afraid that I will face your pain,

And somehow that pain will be drawn into me.

It seems easier to look right past you,

Shielding myself from experiencing your darkness.

For I want to believe that if I refuse to see.

I do not have to get tangled amid your hurts.

I will avoid confronting my own anguish,

And I can convince myself that I am okay.

But somehow I hear your soul’s voice,

Quietly tapping at my heart.

I feel a pleading tug at my spirit.

Inexplicably I sense that you need me,

And your need is much greater than my own.

Your heart aches for someone to be with you,

To love you, to listen to you.

And you cry out for a healing embrace,

For another soul in whom to surrender.

Will I allow myself to become vulnerable?

Do I have the grace to take that step of faith,

To look with love into your sorrowing eyes,

To peer deeply into your soul’s bare face,

And really see you as God?

Yet, when I take that hesitant step,

When I become willing to truly seek your face,

When I bend down and sit close beside you,

Gently taking your hand in mine,

When I let myself be drawn wholly into you,

I embrace each part of your pain as my own.

I feel your struggles swelling within my spirit.

Your aches immerse my soul and become mine.

Our hearts join together in the precious dance of life,

Our souls intertwine in agape love

In a way I do not understand,

But somehow it feels perfectly right.

For you are my sister; we are not alone.

Right now; in the pain; in the fear,

Face to face, we are grace.

Together, we are the living God.

Together, our spirits are healed.