I have this friend. I cannot tell you her name, but she is who I hope to be wise, and kind, and generous, and thoughtful like when I grow up. Let me tell you why…
For several years now, I have watched this friend serve her friends and others in the community when they are sick, or struggling, or sad, or financially hurting, or just in need of a ride somewhere, or a few bags of groceries. She drops off meals, listens intently, cooks homemade soups, writes checks, buys thoughtful gifts, calls, sends cards, checks in on people, encourages, prays – and when I say she prays – I mean this woman storms heaven with her prayers!
What sets my friend apart from most people is that she doesn’t advertise all that she does for others. She doesn’t call people and tell them of her hours of service, or announce how exhausted she is on social media from driving people to doctor’s appointments or to grocery shop. She doesn’t look for others to recognize her in any way, shape, or form for her servant’s heart, or even to point out to her just how wonderful a friend she truly is. She just does it, and she’s quiet about it, and quite frankly I find her humility my favorite part about her because most of us, including myself, want everyone to know when we do something kind for someone else. But not my friend. She serves others for all of the right reasons.
I want to be like her when I grow up.
Now and then, I get a text or an email with a real need to pray for – never, ever for her… no, no – always for someone else. When we are together, and she tells me of prayer needs, she gets choked up and cries for the heartaches and the needs of those she encounters.
I want a heart like that.
My friend has lived a long time and has lost a few friends and family in the past couple of years, including a close friend recently. This person was dear to her and she often told me of the time they would spend together and share a slice of her homemade peach pie – a recipe my friend wishes she had gotten from her friend before she passed away.
She’s lived a life that in many ways is just like mine; she is just a couple of decades ahead of me in age. I often tease her and tell her to be sure and do everything right because I’m watching and following closely behind her! And then I tease her and say, “How’s that for pressure?”
We have so much fun together, my friend and I – and have shared more laughs in our seven- or eight-year friendship now, than I am able to count. She corrects me, teaches me, prays with me, guides me, shares with me, cries with me, laughs with me, and prays for me. She doesn’t know it, but she disciples me in so many ways. I’m not sure she knows how much of an influence she’s had on me and how much I love and admire her.
So tonight, I’m in search of the best peach pie recipe I can find. Feel free, if you have one, to kindly send me yours! When I find a good one, I’m going to bake it and show up on her doorstep, and tell her how much I love her, how much I cherish our friendship, and just how much I glean from her wisdom. I’ll bring my own coffee cup, the one that matches hers, and we’ll laugh, and probably cry, and remember our friend Jerry, our actor friend Paul, the fun plays we’ve seen, and good TIMES we’ve shared.
I can’t tell you who she is. She wouldn’t want you to know.
Dear friend, here’s to the TIME you intercepted and invited me to your class, and the good TIME we’re going to have eating this pie! And here’s to all of the TIME in between those two TIMES. You are one of my life’s greatest treasures, and walking through this life with a friend like you – well, I’m not sure it gets any better than this 😉
I wanna be like you – when I grow up. Love, Rita
PS) IPOY
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4 ESV
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