A Friend Indeed

Want to know who your real friends are? Just ask them to pray for you when you have a need.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for Spencer. He is much better... I think it was a combination of prayers and popsicles. God can use those red, white and blue Rocket Pops in a mighty way with a sick kiddo.

Here's another mark of a great friend. She'll speak the truth in love.

I'm thinking of a specific friend. And she'll string me up for writing this, but I'm brave.

We had big plans to head to Dollywood Sunday right after Sunday school with our friends the Duncans: Danny, Carolyn, Taylor and Tyler.

Carolyn's Sunday school class of older teen girls has combined with the younger teen girls in the class that JoElla and I teach for the next couple of months. I had bought doughnuts and Carolyn had bought OJ to celebrate some birthdays in our classes on Sunday, including JoElla's.

However, Saturday night is when Spencer started getting sick. I called and got Danny on the phone bright and early Sunday morning to tell him the news and ask if they could swing by our house on the way to church to pick up the doughnuts. I stayed home with Spencer and Bruce went on to church after sleeping in and skipping Sunday school following our sleepless night.

No problems. Carolyn even called later that evening to check on us. She's good like that.

This morning when Spencer was still very ill, I called her to ask her to pray for him. She knows he's a real light-weight and viral stuff hits him hard. I told her I'd call her later in the day to let her know how he was. We again had plans for tomorrow to sign up our kids at the library for the summer reading program.

After noon it was pretty certain Spencer had turned the corner and was doing so much better. I even let him go outside to play for a bit.

I called Carolyn to update her. While talking, I said something along the lines of what time we'd meet the next day to go to the library.

And without pausing one bit, she said, "Well, um, how about we wait until Wednesday?"

I said that wouldn't be a problem. But I wasn't getting it.

I went on, talking in oblivion, "We don't have anything going on that day, so that'd be fine. That'll give Spencer another day to rest up before we get him out."

And she paused only one second before saying, "Well, and he won't spread it to my kids... you know, if he's contagious."

DUH!

I'm normally the mom who over-reacts on the side of caution. I was just so excited to get some summer time fun with my friend that I forgot all about how my recovering Barf Boy could possibly share the cooties.

Sorry, Carolyn, for my short-sightedness.

After we got off the phone, I started laughing while thinking about it.

While my child's illness set her children up for the disappointment of not going to Dollywood together, she was the person I called this morning to pray for him.

And when I didn't even think of passing the gunk on to her children, she responded nicely, instead of shrieking, "Lady... are you nuts?! We don't want what you got. Stay away... for awhile. Please!"

What a friend!


"A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 17:17