This happens to me A LOT. Yes, I come in contact with lots of different people every day through my job. Sometimes the interactions are really nice, I am left with such a good feeling and a huge smile on my face. Other times I have to shake my head and wonder what that person was thinking...or if they were thinking at all!
My inbox is very important to me. This is where I get my facebook updates, emails containing news that I may find pertinent, and then I get emails from devotional sites like "purpose driven life" and "411 God".
I opened up my email this morning to find a Nudge. (if you're curious as to what it is, click on the word) It contained this:
Yes. I Want to Be Your Friend
My friend Phil works at a little restaurant in Pittsburgh. For all I know, finding interesting bits of paraphernalia might be a normal part of restaurant work. In any case, the scrawled napkin he found left behind at one of his tables, made its way to me. It said:
“Dad, I want you to be my friend so please say yes I’ll be your friend.”
“Yes! I would love to be your dad and good friend forever.”
I’ve never asked anyone if they would be my friend forever. I didn’t think to ask my own dad to be my friend when I was a little girl. Although, I’m pretty sure that if I had, he would have responded with a exclamatory ‘yes!’ just like this dad did. Whether or not his actions would have followed suit is another question.
In any case, the way people know their fathers is a dramatically diverse pile of experiences. Some of us have dads that make the words ‘loving father’ seem like a bad mix of flavors. This is something that should not be. I wish everyone would receive love from their dads. I wish everyone could know in the core of who they are that they are known and treasured.
God is our father. And when we hear that, we should know that it means he loves us, like our own fathers should have loved us, whether they actually did or not. The Psalmist writes: “The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him” (Psalm 103:13).
I kind of like that the little girl left her note behind. Makes me think she was already pretty sure her dad wanted to be her ‘good friend forever’ before she ever asked.
Peace.
Em
See, no matter how many friends we may have on those little social network sites, on the blog, in message boards or maybe "pinging" you on your phone all day...you can still get that overwhelming sense of loneliness.
I don't know why I am sharing this, I just felt a strong need to. Maybe it's a sweet little reminder, that no matter what you're feeling, there is someone who loves YOU. Cares for you, and wants to be your friend forever.
