Friends…

-We can talk with God just like we do with a friend. As if He’s sitting right next to us.

–Adam Weber, “Talking with God”

-The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him and He makes known to them His covenant.

–Psalm 25: 14

-Friendship is a verb.

–Shelbo’s field notes, 2020

-“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

–John 15:13

My friend Darla and I lived on farms about a mile apart outside the booming metropolis of Grand Forks, North Dakota. We carpooled to school, games, dance clubs, and various other adventures and misadventures. No matter who drove, it always ended the same way…

The car talk.

Instead of the passenger alighting and heading for the house with a wave, we’d sit in the driveway, radio on, for another hour. Or two. Because, well, we just weren’t DONE.

There’d be laughing, crying, commiserating, celebrating! We shared ideas and insights, and dove deep into the mysteries of life: music, hockey, religion, our dreams, our place in the world. I once gave her “the list,” the attributes my future soulmate/spouse had to possess (boy, was I off, and no, not sharing). Often it would be the faint glow in the east that would initiate the wrap-up, the reluctant hitting of the “pause button,” chat “to be continued.” These exchanges bound us into a friendship akin to sisterhood, and although they now happen less frequently (and usually by phone), they still deliver…40 years and counting.

How do you build a relationship that will span decades?

Time and effort…

And lots of conversations.

So…I meet with the Lord, continually, in the Word and in prayer…

Sitting next to each other, interruptions and distractions pushed aside, the discussion spooling out with no thought of schedule, and it’ll just go…wherever it needs to go…

Normally that involves a steady back-and-forth. Sometimes it means I have to shut up/sit in silence and just listen to Him. Other days, He gives me the floor and I “talk it out” (aka ramble on incessantly), and He is the wisest, most trustworthy sounding board a girl could ever ask for. And always, always there are moments where He stops everything, reaches out, and quietly wraps me in a long, powerful hug of peace.

At some point, we part ways…

Until next time.

A loving, giving, renewing, soul-filling, unending dialogue with my Creator.

A friendship that lasts a lifetime…

And beyond.