When driving a car, it is a bad idea to eat ice cream.
Especially chocolate ice cream.
Especially, especially, when you are wearing a purple shirt.
Especially, especially, especially when the reason you are in the car is to go see a movie with friends.
I mean, I would have been okay if it weren’t for that dumb speed bump.
But in one messy, bumpy instant, I was now wearing some delicious (sweetened with fruit juice) ice cream.
The friend I had with me in the car broke out in laughter as I started problem solving. I was going to see a movie. It was dark in the movies. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. I would only look like a mess from point A of the parking lot to point B of my seat in the theatre. People already assumed I was like 15 years old anyway, so maybe I would just play it off as though I were teenager of the late blooming variety. No one would question the girl with the chocolate on her shirt.
“We could use some water to clean it,” my friend offered after she finished laughing.
I giggled, “It’s okay. I can be a mess. There are worse things in the world.”
A few moments later, I received a text from the friend who was meeting us at the theatre. He hadn’t left his house yet. (Hallelujah!) He agreed to bring me a hoodie to borrow.
And just like that my friends took care of me. Did they laugh at me? Yep. Am I going to hear about the ice cream incident for a while? Probably.
But the moral of this story is that my friends had my back.
Isn’t that how friends should be?
Proverbs 17:17 says that “A friend loves at all times…”
The book of John says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Did you know that yesterday was National Best Friends Day?
Yesterday, however, I didn’t think too much about Best Friends Day. After all, there weren’t any free pancakes, donuts or day off work involved, so I can’t say that it really grabbed my attention until….
I got a text from one of my friends. She was wishing me a happy Best Friends Day. It was a simple text but it made me feel special. Important. Loved.
It got me thinking about how much of a blessing my friends are. My friends listen to me when I whine, they are there for me when I am hurting, they pray for me when I am unsure, they tell me to suck it up when I am being too girly, they teach me to play volleyball and how to bowl the right way….I think God gave me friends for (one of) the same reasons He gave Adam, Eve. Because it isn’t good to be alone.
Friends, I praise God for you! Thank you for being in my life. You really mean so much to me!
(See, He really does make all things work together for our good! Even chocolate fiascos!)
