This photo was shot 2 weeks ago, when my eldest son had his friend over for the day. It was a week off school and so both of them were in the best of spirits and full of energy.
Being a gorgeous day outside, I thought I'd sit down for an afternoon cup of tea and let them play in the snow. As I watched them, I marvelled at their intense affections for one another.
They haven't been friends for very long. (My son reminded me yesterday, on the way to church, that his favorite day was Oct.31st - the day he met Isaac at Bible Discovery Night.)
Since then, they search each other out at church or Boys Brigade... and for my son, this is definitely his first "crush". Not like boy-girl crushes, but the kind of affections that we can lavish on another human being, whom we enjoy being with and whose heart is one that knits itself to ours. I'm reminded of David and Jonathan's friendship in 1 Samuel 18:1, "As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. "
Interestingly, I believe I was watching a similar knitting occuring on this snowy afternoon. Under the open blue of heaven, my son and his friend were digging for diamonds in their diamond mine, while they were sharing in something much deeper.
Of course, their friendship focuses predominantly on where the next battle will take place, and who will be the captain and who will be the first mate... or which one of them should wear the shield while the other gets the sword. But I find something so endearing in the picture of friendship. Our friendships here remind us that life is not all about us... and although many people "sabotage" their relationships by their selfishness, a true and genuine love for another is marked by selflessness and love that seeks the other's benefit over our own.
May I be marked by such love for my Savior - my best friend. And from that deep relationship, I pray for the template to respond to the human lives I am blessed to be a part of.
I thank God for granting me some especially dear friends (chief of whom is my dear hubby) and my prayer is that all of us will be able to share our days with fellow "diamond miners" amidst the open skies of heaven.
2 comments:
Thanks for this post Marlene. It gave me chilly-willy goosebumps, the kind you don't want to leave you for the rest of the day and I feel blessed to be both inspired and sobered by the diamond miners story...thank you.... :)
What fun and thought-provoking posts. (Posts is plural because I'm referring to some posts before and after this one). Thanks for your words of wisdom.
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