True Friendship

April 19th, 2023

True Friendship
Author: Roger Sealey, Guest Services/Care Director
Through Thick & Thin - Part 1
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“This is My command: Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.”

— John 15:12-13

This past Sunday, we heard Pastor Josh speak about God’s design for us to be in a relationship with others. He spoke about the difficult times (the thick) and the easy times (the thin). I’ve had many friendship opportunities over the years, but I know at least a few people who model true friendship better than me.

At the end of 2019, my mom moved to Morgantown to be near family. My father passed away in 2018 after they built their retirement home on ten acres of land in rural Kentucky. When I say built, I mean that they literally built their home by hand. It was one of my dad's dreams. When I visited, it was more like work than a vacation—framing walls, drywall, and putting up siding. My mother and father were married for almost 50 years and were inseparable. Soon after my father’s passing, Mom decided she would rather be close to us in West Virginia, so she packed up all her belongings and moved here. She moved into her own apartment just in time for the world to shut down for COVID-19.

The thin: When we reopened the church building, my mom started volunteering right away. At first, it was with our greeters, and later, in one of the nursery rooms. She has so much fun serving in the nursery. She’s also made a close friend, Regina. Last fall, they even started planning a friends trip together to see Canada and Alaska this summer.

The thick: Mom was diagnosed with Large B Cell Lymphoma a few months ago and has been undergoing chemo treatments. She is doing great and has such a positive attitude. Mom’s friend Regina, who also attends and volunteers at The Ridge, has modeled what friendship and community are meant to look like. It started with her reaching out to our greeters and kids wing volunteers. Regina brought in cards and asked everyone to write notes of encouragement to my mom. She called daily to talk and pass the time, brought lunches on treatment days, and took her to appointments when Vicki and I were unavailable. Regina is an amazing model of why friendship is so important.

“ Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.”

— Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

True friendship looks for ways to be helpful and provide a listening ear without judgment.

It’s not hard to connect with someone in the easy times. But over and over again, God calls us to be there in the difficult times. This is where we can make a difference—helping someone who is sick, going through loss, having financial difficulty, or needing guidance and accountability. True friendship looks for ways to be helpful and provide a listening ear without judgment. I want to challenge you this week to be that friend. Be observant of those around you, and if you see them struggling, offer to listen and be there when others walk away.