I cringed when my friend shared God’s love and grace with me.
Penny and I were best friends in high school in Hawaii. We each had moved away from the Islands, and were back for our 40th reunion—the first reunion I had attended since graduation. We have kept in touch sporadically over the years, as she became a banker in New York, and then in Hong Kong and I became a Family Doctor in Massachusetts, Texas and Minnesota. We each had been an attendant in the others’ wedding, and we are still married to our first husband. The children are out of our houses now, and we each have moved on from our most intensive, busy career. It was a good time to reconnect.
On the way to the airport Penny told me there was something that she wanted to tell me, and mentally I took a deep breath, because I had a feeling that I might not like what she was going to say. She said that our friendship is very important to her, and that when I am silent she worries that she is losing my friendship. I see that there are implications of not nurturing a friendship—that she and I both lose when I get so busy that I prioritize other tasks ahead of sharing and receiving love. We affirmed our friendship, and our desire to remain close friends, despite the miles separating us.
I feel sad to hear that I caused her distress, and I feel so grateful that she was willing to tell me, in an extremely loving way, how I could be a better friend to her. This is God’s grace of forgiveness and unconditional love, conveyed through the love and honesty of my friend. I am more attentive now to the importance of connecting with family and friends. Though there are still many tasks and details of life to juggle, they are not going to eclipse my connections to friends and family.
~Connie Williams
~Connie Williams
Ephesians 4:15 . . . by speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ.
John 8:31-3You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teaching. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
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