A Long Night and a Gentle Reminder

I just wanted to take a moment and say how thankful I am for friends.  Last night I had the opportunity to minister to a friend who had a relative at the hospital.  We spent several hours together in the emergency room just chit-chatting and passing the time.  And although today I awoke after a very short night (although not as short as hers) still wishing to be in bed, I was reminded of how powerful relationships are.  As crazy as it sounds, I had a good time with her last night.  Not because of the circumstances, but because of being together.  I was blessed to be able to drop everything and spend time together (although last night was the night I had decided I would beat the laundry pile and quit getting dressed in the garage where the clean laundry is stashed until I get it all ironed, foleded, and put away -thus today I had to gather clothes from the garage again).  When I got to the hospital she told me she had wanted to ask me to come, but figured she could get through it without someone and she didn't want to inconvenience someone else.  Today I am so glad she allowed me to come.  Today I am thankful not only for her friendship and the chance we had to spend time together, but I am greatful that God created us to need friends!

Can you imagine life if God had not given us the need for relationships?  Ultimately, we would be lonely people who not only walked the earth alone, we'd miss every blessing of the relationship with God.  What a miserable life that would be!

I am also reminded that my days with my friends in NC are slowly coming to a close.  I pray that I never lose the relationships, but distance will definitely change them.  But I also realized that we aren't promised another day even without going to a foreign country.  I pray that I will seize every moment of time we have together here and for the new friends I will have in Spain.  Friends are definitely a gift from God!

On another note, I went to the hospital because the Holy Spirit nudged me.  I read between the lines of a text message and knew I needed to go and I was blessed beyond measure (although the laundry pile is still there).  I wonder how many times the Holy Spirit has nudged me and I've ignored it for a "to do" list.  I can only imagine all the things I have missed out on.  May I become more and more sensitive to the Holy Spirit's nudging.  It's me who is missing out on being a part of God's great plan for relationships when I ignore Him.