The perception of "friendship"

I have never been one that has had an abundance of friends but I have learned to be careful who I allow to enter the circle of friendship.

Most recently, I ventured out to "help" a stranded friend. Without going into too much detail, she wasn't stranded, in the sense that she led me to believe - she just wanted things to be done around her house and done her way!

It was frustrating but I tried to make light of it and laugh it off but 4 hours later, it just wasn't funny!

In an effort to take attention off of herself, she began to make remarks about my past to these strangers! Very humiliating and sad.

Now, I'm not saying anything that I didn't already say to her face so I feel comfortable sharing this.

I only say all of that to prove a point: No body is perfect. People will always disappoint you, YES, always! Because we are not perfect beings, we do not act the same or expect the same things so disappointment is inevitable.

But there is hope in all of it, when you change your outlook or perspective to allow people to be real and genuine with you - then you should expect to see some pretty raw stuff.

This is what I believe; people who can't fully surrender to God WILL have a hard time believing that you did or that you have! They will always call out your past to remind you that you aren't perfect.

I like to remind myself of the book of I Samuel. David, who defeated the giant Goliath, becomes friends with King Saul's son, Jonathan. The friendship that David and Jonathan shared was tested and true.

Another epistle comes to mind, Job! Boy, he had some rotten friends, didn't he?

Reading scriptures is comforting, everything that I go through today; someone else went through the same thing over 2,000 years ago!

But why would I keep a friend like that? It's simple. I call her friend because I need a friend and she needs a friend who can let her be herself (even if it is ugly at times). That doesn't mean that I am desperate for friendship, but it is what we make it.

It simply comes to this: you can not have a friend until you learn to be a friend

I decided that I am her friend, even if she isn't my friend!