Joy In Friendships
The JOY of Friendships
Remember being a kid on the playground and walking up to another kid and saying: hey do you want to be my friend? Within minutes you all were playing tag, hide in seek, and more. When it was time to leave, all you talked about was your new friend. Or if you were shy as a kid you would go stand near where the other kids were playing, maybe kicking a rock or swinging your leg hoping someone would see you and say: hey come over here and play with us. Awww the JOY of childhood friendships!
Don’t you wish that making friends as an adult was as easy as it was when you were a kid? (lol) Friendships as an adult can be more challenging to navigate through due to trying to balance everyone’s work schedule, family schedule, church schedule and beyond. Although it may be more challenging it is still very much so worth it. Despite our personalities, careers, family life, everyone need to have someone in their life that is a true friend. How do we go about creating meaningful/lasting friendships within in our adulthood? I’m glad you ask that question because I have some biblical and practical tips to having JOY in Friendships.
1) Be willing to be flexible-in order to have meaningful friendships as an adult you must be willing to be flexible because your friend may have a child that gets sick last minute when you all had plans. A true friend will reassure them without making them feel guilty that their number one priority is their child and that you can always reschedule.
2) Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another-Proverbs 27:17. When we think of friendships we often think of someone who may be just like us, but in the bible we learn that in order to become a better person we must be willing to connect ourselves with someone who may not always see our viewpoint. I personally value friendships like this because they help me keep things in perspective and from various point of views.
3) Respect your friend’s personality, if you are an extrovert and she is an introvert don’t just plan things for you all to do that will fit your personality. Include her in the planning process as well so that you both can be comfortable and have a great time.
4) A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17. We often want friends where we can each be a part of the fun things that are going on in their lives: wedding shower, baby shower, etc. but we sometimes get uncomfortable when our friend is going through a tragedy or difficult time. If you want that relationship to be even deeper than walk alongside them even during those times of grief and sorrow. When you have experienced great sorrow together then the times of JOY are even more memorable and meaningful!
5) Extend grace with your friend, there may be some seasons where life for both of you aren’t too hectic and you can easily hop in the car and do a weekend Girl’s Trip, other times there may be a season of life due to small children, health, unforeseen situations, etc that it may take more intentional planning in order to meet up. A solid true friendships is ever lasting even during the ebbs and flows of life.
Friendships truly make our lives richer and adds so much value to our life. Typically close friends are completely opposite which is always funny to see. Nicole and I joke often of how much different we are: She’s an introvert, I’m ambivert (use to be 100% extrovert-lol), we both like to read but I like to read books in the “ole school way”, which means I need to turn some pages, embrace the new book smell and it also mean I have a bookcase that’s packed. She prefers to read books digitally. When we go out to eat, I’m often looking for the spiciest item on the menu to order, she is looking for the item that has the least amount of spice. Even how we were raised is completely opposite-lol. You may be thinking then how in the world are you two close like sisters, it’s because we don’t focus on what we don’t have in common we focus on what we do have in common and we respect each other personalities without trying to change one another.
I’ve been truly blessed to have several people in my life that I can truly call my friend! If you don’t have an “Nicole” in your life then I encourage you to show yourself friendly, don’t look for someone who is like you, be authentic and real, be open to being friends with someone that is a different culture, or age range than you, if you do you may just be surprise of the friendships you’ll end up having.
Shout out to all my friends who support me by reading our JOY Ministries Blog-I love and appreciate YOU!
PS: Don’t forget that the most important person you need to be a friend to, is to yourself. Love on yourself, do frequent soul care check in, make sure you are taking care of your physical, mental and emotional health. We can’t be true friends to others if we aren’t true friends to ourselves.
Special thanks to those of you that attended our Friendsgiving! We had an incredible time of food, fun and laughter, we can’t wait to do it again in 2023!
Our next JOY session is tentatively scheduled for December 12th at 6:30, the focus will be on Prayer/JOY in our World!. It will be virtual-more information will be on our FB page: facebook.com/joyministriesunited.
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