To Be REALLY Known

    I was reading a plaque that a dear friend brought me once when she visited from out of town.  It says:

True Friends Are Like Angels

I believe in angels;
the kind that heaven sends.
I'm surrounded by angels,

but I call them friends.
Many people will walk

in and out of your life,

but only true friends

will leave footprints

on your heart.

     I thought about my friends this morning.  What a blessing to have real friends that you can always count on to be there.  Especially my BFF!  She loves me, I know, because she’s seen my ugly cry and has still come over again after that.  We have shared so much.  Five million gallons of coffee with International Delight, school ideas, home organization ideas, husband ideas, laughs, cries, secrets and hugs.  We have grown together these 20 years or so that we have come to know one another and I can’t imagine my life without her.

     There are others too.  I know that if any of them read this, they know I’m talking about them.  We all share a wonderful bond in Christ and we love and care for one another.  Meeting some of my friends the way I did proves even more to me that God cares about every detail of my life and He will provide in the most amazing ways.  I met a lot of my friends online a few years ago, which I never did before and will probably never do again.  But God can orchestrate something when He wants to and you can’t stop it.  You wonder how those can be real friends?  They know me.  They pray for me, laugh with me, cry with me, love me.  I figure once you can share inside jokes with one another, you know you have a real friend that knows you and you know them.

     In my bible study this week, I had a list of verses.  I was supposed to pick one to memorize for the week.  I chose this one: 

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.  I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand.  John 10:27-28

     He KNOWS me.  You mean he knows what I called that guy that cut me off in traffic the other day?  Or he knows how exasperated I get with my children sometimes?  He knows that I am lazy sometimes, I am selfish more times, and I am impatient almost all the time.  He knows the ugly things I’m thinking on the inside when I’m trying to change my heart by saying something different on the outside.  What about when I just want to retreat inside my cave every 28 days and not serve or do ANYTHING for ANYONE for fear that I might actually bite someone’s head off?  He also knows I hate all of these things about myself.  He knows I’m sorry.  He knows I love him and want to KNOW him.  He knows me.