Image courtesy of Joy Prichard Studios
My wife does an amazing job decorating our home. Maybe too good of a job. She changes colors and decorations with each holiday or season. Admittedly, I’m often clueless about the passing months and her changes remind me just where we are in the year.
This past spring she changed the wreaths on our front doors. I suppose some birds took a look and thought they were inviting enough to build a nest. When we opened the door one day, the mother bird flew off. We realized there was a nest in the wreath and that changed everything.
Until those eggs hatched and the new birds were safely flying on their own, we would not use the front door. For any reason. Deliveries? We’d just walk the packages around the house. Visiting us? “You can’t enter the front door,” we shout from a window, “Come through the garage!” The air-conditioning repairmen who came to replace a faulty unit? Well, they had to take some extra steps.
We were careful to watch the birds’ progress, but not disturb them. We didn’t want to scare the mother bird off. All through the spring we took pictures and waited. Finally, one day they were all gone.
They never even knew we were there.
They didn’t know that we were going through all these inconveniences for their benefit.
They didn’t know someone was watching out for them, protecting them, cheering them on.
They didn’t know we cleaned up the mess after they left.
And that’s a friend.
A friend is someone who for a season will sacrifice for you even when you don’t know it.
A friend is someone who will watch out for you, will protect you, will encourage you.
A friend is someone who gives in a season when you are vulnerable, when you are needy, when you are not yet mature enough.
When you think of one of your friends, what characteristics come to mind? Who has done something for you? Share this post with them and let them know how much it means.
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