Chapter 8 - Friendship

We start our second week of the journey to be Uncommon with a discussion about friends. I found Dungy's discussion of the two-way street very interesting because I have seen many people including my own son, be much more loyal to friends than they were to him. My son has always been the champion of the underdog and unfortunately many of those friends have simply been dogs. Do you remember when that stray dog showed up at the house and your parents told you not to feed it because it would keep coming back? The reality is lots of people want to hang around for "scraps from the table", but true friends invite you to their table as well. They understand the principle of share and share alike.

The writer of Proverbs said, "A friend loves at all times and a brother is born in adversity."(17:17) He also wrote, "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."(18:24) I am so thankful for friendships that I have with the elders and staff of our church, they have truly helped me survive the last few years. I am thankful for friendships that I have with by brother and best friend from high school. Though we don't see each other as often as we should, both have proven themselves ready to drop everything and come with only a phone call.

My prayer for men is that they would have friends! Not drinking friends and gambling friends, the kind that are always willing to be around for the party, but friends that will drop everything when the phone rings anytime day or night if they are needed. There is only one way to have those kind of friends ... you have to answer the phone when you are called!