A Little Touch of Heaven

 

God's care comes in many forms.  Fellowship is God caring enough to put people in your life to encourage, rebuke and comfort you.  Paul Tripp

Through our travels and living in a couple countries and several states I have accumulated several good quality friends.  A lot of them we have worked with in ministry and are able to pick right up on our relationship due to the Lord.  

My very first best friend growing up had no idea how important she was to my life.  We played house together, rode our bikes together. I have one memory about a bike ride we had, her driving, me on the handlebars, and crashing into a ditch.  Lots of sleep overs at her house, lots of talk about boys.  We both worked at the town skating rink on Saturday mornings, teaching kids to skate and then cleaning the skates and the rink getting it ready for the night skate.  Great memories.  

I dated a guy from my hometown, so I had a relationship with his friend too.  His family took me to church whenever I wanted to go.  We broke up and I started dating a guy from a town 15 miles away, so my friends changed too.  That guy I eventually married, moved away from all those friends and added more to my list of friends.  

All the above relationships I knew was when I was not a follower of Jesus.  It was only after I got saved, I begin to understand true friendship through Jesus.  All those childhood friend helped me in some way because I was looking for security and worth from their friendship.  Yet my heart was empty, and they could not fill the deepest need I had.  

Fast forward many years into marriage, age 35 rolled around and I put my trust in Jesus Christ for not only for salvation but for the rest of my life.  I came to know the truest friend a person could ever have, Jesus Christ. Without me telling Him, He knew all my sins, including the ones all those friends did not know about.  And, this is the best part, He still loved me and died for me. 

 God had a plan for my life that would bring Godly friends to help me grow and mature into a women of God.  I needed all of them too, women who had walked with God through hard times and knew the value of trusting Him.  We can pick right up from where we left off and be able to center our relationship on Christ.  

I still see some of my friends from my childhood when I go home for a visit.  Facebook has been the place to catch up on lives that impacted mine. Phone calls just to say hello and hear stories about their lives are great.  When we are near a former friend we try to do a face to face visit which is the best.  

There is a phrase I usually say to those after we have visited, "this has been a little touch of heaven."

That sweetness that comes with friends who know the Lord is only a little touch of heaven.  The full blown touch will come later in our heavenly home as we look face to face at the dearest friend, Jesus.  I am so grateful for friends, family who have been a part of my life and extra grateful for God bringing them into my life.