A Cord Of Three Strands Is Not Easily Broken

I have often heard the above scripture in reference to a married couple or to a couple that is getting married. If we have God in our marriages we are like a cord of three strands.....strong and not easily broken.

I have been thinking this week that this also applies to the gift of friendship. God blesses us with great friendships with all different types of people. The more I think about that the more I think I understand it's purpose. I have many different types of friends. Some are the serious intellectual type, some are shy, some are the life of any party, some are funny, and some are a mixture of all of that. I think the purpose is this. We have different types of friends to deal with or share different areas of our lives. Our lives are complex. We deal with different issues every single day. Some are joyous wonderful things and some are hard painful overwhelming things. That is just a fact of daily life. Sometimes the situation we are in determines which friend we go to to share that issue. The greatest blessing is having many friends to share our lives with. We are never defenseless because we always have someone to share whatever is going on in our lives at the moment. Because we are blessed with more than one friend...we have many to share with and no one friend gets overwhelmed. Isn't that a great gift from God....a friend to go to in each situation and a God to bind us together as one?

This past weekend I went on a trip with 18 women (and three babies) from my church. It was a perfect example of the friendships God give us. There were 19 women with all different personalities and yet bound together in friendship and Christ's love. Throughout the weekend we were able to do things together and to do things separately. We all took time to laugh, and share, and be together. Every night you could see groups of sisters sitting around sharing their hearts and their lives. It was a time of seeing God's blessings and feeling the love and support that true friendship brings.

God continues to bless me and grow me by the wonderful people he adds to my life. I love all of you and I am so thankful to have you. I am reminded of a reference I heard in a Beth Moore bible study. She was talking about the four men that carried their friend on a stretcher (a mat) and lowered him down to Jesus....because the man could not walk on his own. She called these men "Stretcher Bearers" and that was what she called her friends. That stuck with me and that is the way I see my friends. You are my stretcher bearers...you lift me up when I can not walk on my own....and you take me to Jesus.

Tammy


Papa Bears Cabin....our home sweet home


Our view...isn't that beautiful?


Shopping in Gatlinburg


Ella and Ranger....our power couple


Dinner at Bubba Gump's....yummy!


Mexican Dinner with our peeps


I had to eat with the giant fork....


Chillin' on the deck


Ella....isn't she beautiful?


Talking with the girls....


Cyndi's peddie...did I spell that right?


19 Women + 3 babies. The whole gang


Heading home :-(