One night when I was on vacation earlier this month, I thought about my friend D. I actually had a dream about her. D. and I met when I first started working at the Med Center. We became good friends after a few months and she even joined the bible study group that I started at work. She’s Catholic by marriage but she believed in Jesus. We became such close friends that we hung out outside of work. I went to her home a few times and our spouses met a few time also. She would even call me every morning asking for specific prayer requests as I got ready for work. Even when I transfered to the Cancer Center, our phone calls were more frequent. I also gave her a book on Christians who are married to non-Christians to help strength her walk with God and to work on her marriage with her husband since he’s not a believer yet.
Now, it’s been 1 year since I last talked to her. Her family had to make a sudden move to SF where her husband had to relocate. I tried contacting her a few times since she’s now at the UCSF but it saddens me that I hadn’t heard a response back. It’s like we were never friends. I’m sure that she’s busy but how hard is it to send a quick email back?
On Sunday, Daniel preached on the authenticity on our relationship with Christ and how one way to identify that is by the fruits of our labor. Honestly, I am afraid that when I get to meet Jesus face to face that he would shun me from His Kingdom because it seems to me that I have no fruit on my tree. Not to say, that D. is the only fruit that I’m working on but sometimes I just don’t see any direct fruit.
D., I miss you and our friendship. I know that sometimes we get so blog down in life that we forget to keep in contact with people even though they’re in our hearts. I pray that your relationship with God will strengthen and that you would find a good Christian support group at work and outside of work. I pray that you will find a home church (if you hadn’t already) where you can freely worship and serve our loving Father. I pray for your marriage and your family that our Lord will be the center of that. May your husband coming to know our loving Lord and Savior and may he be the great leadership example for your kids. I love you!
I don’t think you give yourself enough credit, Suzanne! Your desire to want to be a Christ-like example at work by being on time (or even early!) is fruit, and even in your relationships with other people (even me), I can see you have a heart to serve others.
But tying onto your earlier post about taking too many classes or overburdening yourself…if you are feeling too overwhelmed with things in your schedule that aren’t necessary, maybe it’s time to reevaluate, cut some things out, or replace them with things that will allow you to share Christ with others–either through service or relationships.