Count Your Snowflakes and Remember the Strawberries

I've read somewhere that friends are like snowflakes, each one unique and different. I received an email from an old friend today, whom I haven't talked to in awhile. Recently, life has been pretty hectic for them. Since they moved, it's been hit or miss for keeping in touch. As a result, I didn't know all that was going on. I wish I had known. I would have known how to pray.

Life has a way of doing that, doesn't it? In the back of our minds we think of them, but before we know it, time has escaped us. When I had not heard from my friends in sometime, I brushed it off as "They're just really busy and that's them." However,my friend's email revealed they were having some struggles and she was really worn out.

A few months ago, I bought some strawberries to have with breakfast and put them in the fridge. By the time morning came,there was just enough time for me to get ready and rush out the door for work. I kept thinking of the strawberries though. By the time the weekend came, I decided I was finally going to have my strawberries. I proceeded to the fridge, opened the door and reached for them only to discover they were now soft and growing a bit fuzzy with mold. More time had passed than I originally thought. After all, it only seemed to be a few days. Where did the time go?

Life keeps going, interruptions come and go, trials, etc. etc. Yet I recall Michael W. Smith's song entitled "Friends". The chorus reads something like "And friends are friends forever, if the Lord's, the Lord of them."

Each friend is unique and special, kind of like a snowflake. I am thankful for my friends. Even though it is touch and go with those that have moved away, I know the "Lord is still the Lord of them." When we do reconnect, we pick up where we left off in conversation. For this I am so grateful.

May we remember the strawberries, though and set time aside to enjoy, while it's fresh. Making time to reach out is important.
I Corinthians 12:24-26(NIV) reads: "..But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so there should be no division in the body, but that it's parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; If one part is honored. every part rejoices with it."

May I not only count those flakes as blessings and give thanks for them, but also make time to find out what's happening in their lives. After all, life is so much sweeter when I do.