Showing Up

Showing Up

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

“Did you know Matthew started selling camel milk?” a friend asked recently.

“No,” I said, astounded and amused. “Why in the world would he do that?”

Matthew and his wife, Elizabeth, are great friends of ours, and since he’s witty and funny, my first thought was that he was playing a joke on our mutual friend. What else could possibly explain the seemingly offbeat decision to sell camel milk?

The next week when we encountered Matthew, he was quick to laugh over our bewilderment and offer an explanation. As part of his family’s ministry of connecting with refugee and immigrant communities in the area, he decided to sell camel milk. In East African culture, it’s considered a healthful delicacy and is a sought-after commodity. Matthew’s work as a middleman between the supplier and the local ethnic grocery stores in the area means that he’s connecting with the very people with whom he’d love to build relationships.

In friendship, it’s important to meet people where they’re at, just as Jesus meets us where we’re at. Instead of just saying that we love and care for someone else, proving the truth of our words through our actions is the best way to demonstrate our love and care for our friends.

Of course, not everyone likes camel milk, but there are lots of other ways we can use our actions to show our friends that the things they care about matter to us as well. Showing up to watch a softball game they’re playing in, cheering them on from the sidelines while they run a 5K, offering to read a book they’re currently reading in order to discuss it over coffee at a later date, or meeting up for dinner at a restaurant that serves their favorite kind of food are all small ways to show our friends that they matter to us.

— Kristin

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Think of one tangible action you can take to demonstrate to a friend how much you care for them.