Leading The Way

Leading the Way

Make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

Emily and I trained as copy editors on the same day. A New Jersey native, she was a couple of years older, more experienced in our new position, and had obtained a master’s degree before moving to the area with her husband. I, on the other hand, was a recent college graduate who felt a little out of my depth.

Over the years, our friendship deepened. Emily’s sense of humor and appreciation for shopping and good books matched my own, and we met for countless lunch and coffee dates. She attended my wedding and was excited when I found out I was pregnant with my oldest daughter.

After Elise’s birth, I began to appreciate Emily’s friendship in a new way. Her son was a little older than my daughter, so she had walked the same path not long before I had. She knew what it was like to juggle home and work life and to feel the pull between the two.

My choices felt complicated because, as a new mom, I struggled to find my footing with my child. I loved my daughter fiercely but didn’t always feel like I measured up to an ephemeral mom-standard that was always shifting on me. In those precious early months of Elise’s infancy, it was a relief to go to work and feel like I was good at something and that I knew what I was doing. My friend’s encouragement, steady presence, obvious care, and wisdom on how to walk this uncertain road was the compass I didn’t know I needed.

In Scripture we’re told to love one another and work together, because doing so fosters a united vision and purpose for the church as a whole. That solidarity isn’t just so that we can accomplish the things we’re called to do; it’s a gift from a God who sees and knows how much our souls need someone to come alongside us and say, “You’re doing a great job. You’re doing the right thing. You’re not alone.” Friendship is his way of sending us the people we need most, right when we need them.

— Kristin

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Encourage a friend who is walking through a season or circumstance that you’ve experienced.