Forever Friends

By Sue Keranen

When we moved into our home four years ago, the Lord blessed me with a neighbor who is now my best friend in the Lord. Quite honestly, I cannot imagine how I ever got along in life without her. She travels through life with a song in her heart that she encourages me to sing with her and when either of us needs to cry, we cry together. What can I say about a friend like that except that I thank Jesus every day for her?

Our friendship was not instantaneous. It started out with the usual front yard greetings and occasional side yard chitchats. She and her husband were middle-aged empty nesters like us and so she and I would surface talk about family or girly things like decorating and recipes. Our husbands would stand off to the side talking about their jobs and yard work. We were cautious to exchange only pleasantries. Our real lives, our real struggles were kept to ourselves. Our meetings were random and often few and far between. We were friends but we did not yet have a friendship.

My husband and I were new to the area and were searching for a new Church home. One evening during one of our sporadic chitchats, they shared with us how much they loved their Church and invited us to attend. We went one Sunday evening and saw them at a fellowship after the service. We sat down together and though I cannot remember our exact conversation, I will never forget our sharing in an awkward moment that made us both laugh so hard that we almost fell off our chairs. We made a date to get together for lunch the next week, the week after that and then the week after that. We started out sharing our pasts, worked our way up into sharing the present and then moved on into sharing our dreams for the future. Now we were true friends but we were not yet forever friends.

Several months into our newfound friendship I mistakenly left my garage door open after grocery shopping, and heard a knock on my inner door. I stood there frozen for a moment unsure if I should answer it. It could be a solicitor, or worse, a thief. "Who is it?" I called to the intruder from inside with the door still securely locked. "It's me, your pesky neighbor." The voice answered. It was my new friend. As soon as I opened the door, she started apologizing for bothering me. "I just need someone to talk to." She said and then started to cry. That was the day we began our forever friendship. She knocked on my inner door and I answered. Soon after our forever friendship started, the relationship branched out to include our husbands.

Since that day over three years ago I could not even begin to count how many times we have knocked on each others inner door to share, to cry, to laugh, or to just enjoy being together. Ours has truly become a forever friendship.

A forever friend is someone that you just know that you know will be your friend for eternity because it was not by chance but by God. There are no pretenses with a forever friend. There is no need to be anything but open and honest because they know you and love you for who you are, not for who they wish you could be. A forever friend helps you to grow and mature in the things of the Lord, not by walking ahead of you or telling you how it should be but rather by walking beside you and sharing in your own discoveries. You cannot measure the depth or breadth of a forever friend because it has no end.

I think I first discovered this fact several months ago when my friend needed to talk to me but she knew I was not home. She called me from her cell phone and poured her heart out into my answering machine. It did not matter to her that I was not there in bodily form. She knew that I was there with her in Spirit.

There is not a day that goes by that my forever friend and I do not connect in some way. Whether it is in person, over the phone, or in prayer, we share with one another. We send each other cards, emails and verbally express to each other on a continual basis how thankful we are to God for our relationship.

I am amazed at how similar my earthly forever friendship is to my relationship with Jesus. In the beginning, I knew that He was there but I did not really know Him. When I started spending time with Him through His Word, I got to know Him and we became friends. Then one day I left the outer door of my flesh open to Him. He knocked on the inner door of my Spirit and I let him in. After this, we became forever friends. Soon after our forever friendship started, our relationship branched out to include others. There is not a day that goes by that my forever friend and I, Jesus do not connect in some way. Thank you Jesus for knocking on my inner door and coming into my life. I cannot imagine my life without You.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20