Just got back from a workout and a wonderful time at coffee with my friend Tamera. She didn’t seem to mind that I was stinky and sweaty and wasn’t wearing makeup. It was raw Jana. And she was good with that.
Isn’t that what we love in a cherished friend? The unconditional love, acceptance and care that feeds our souls and quenches our thirsty hearts. If we allow them, they see all our “uglies” and love us anyway. We can let down our hair and share our weaknesses, our fears, our doubts in ourselves and can know that it won’t affect how they look at us. That is a good friend. That is a cherished treasure. Rare and priceless.
Beyond the physical yuck of after workout clothes and body, Tamera and I had a time of emotional transparency over coffee. A time to just be real. A time to express our love and friendship to each other. The joys and the sorrows. The victories and the failures. The hopes and the fears. A safe place to pour out our hearts. And it was nothing less than wonderful.
Jesus offers that to us every single minute of every single day. A listening ear. A caring heart. And unconditional love. He longs for that intimacy with us. How sweet is that? He walked this earth and He knows how life on earth feels. He’s been there. He’s done that. He knows. We have the indescribable privilege of being able to walk hand in hand with Him every day, knowing He will never abandon. He sees our “ugliness” and the “ugliness” that life can do to us sometimes and He offers to turn it all into loveliness. He can do that. He really can. And He does it all the time if we let Him. Those icky broken pieces that are cutting us up and making us bleed, He takes them. His hands have already bled. He is not afraid of their sharp edges. And somehow, miraculously, He takes them and changes them into a work of art. Something lovely. Something with a story. Something with a very, very good ending.
Tamera, thank you for today. I hope it ministered to your heart as it did to mine. And Jesus, take my hand in this new day. Take my inside “uglies” and transform them into something lovely. Thank you for being my treasured Friend who loves unconditionally and cheers me on each and every day.
Psalm 103:14 – For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.
John 15:15 – …I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
