Where have you BEEN all my life?

Today, I'm talking about friends again.  They are a powerful thing.

I'm going to be completely honest here and say that I have not always been wise in my friend choices.  The people I have associated myself with have not always been godly people who encourage me to do the good and right, as opposed to what feels good and right.  It is such a hard thing, especially for teenagers.  We're in our most formative years, and we have to choose carefully who we pick to help us find a shape.

I am incredibly blessed to have a best friend, and today I had to make a decision that was difficult for me.  It wasn't life or death, and it really, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't all that important.  But in that moment and at that time, it was and still is really hard for me.  I told my best friend about the decision, and almost to my surprise, she started telling me how proud she was of me!

Here's the thing:  if I had mentioned the decision to any one of my false friends that I have known, they would have mocked me.  They would have told me that it's no fun, and that I was not "living" enough.

So today, I am feeling ecstatic about my newfound real friendship.  I told her all day I felt like something was amiss and that what I had wanted to do wasn't really what I needed, and so I prayed and I realized that that small little inkling and nervousness was God telling me exactly that.  I didn't need any of that in my life.  My best friend told me how she was so happy that I was being sensitive to God's will instead of my own, and that it was wisdom that I was getting.


That is what false friends do not encourage.  Wisdom.  Real friends are complete advocates of wisdom.  Not culture wisdom, but godly wisdom.  Wisdom enough to be able to discern what you do and do not need, and to listen for the answers that God provides.

And today, I am thanking my Heavenly Father for giving me a wise friend.  You could not be any more amazing than you are, Lolo.


*PS.  Her name isn't really Lolo.  That's just what I call her. I'm just protecting the innocent by not putting her real name on my blog so she doesn't, well, die of embarrassment.