I’ve got some of the most amazing friends on the planet! Beautiful Individuals who continue to Inspire me each and every single day! When you’ve got true friends, you are happy, you are assured, you are fulfilled. Our friends may not always be perfect but remember that they too are human and tend to slip every once in a while. Just like the air we breathe, good and faithful friends are gifts from the Lord. While growing, I never had friends I could call ‘Faithful’, I don’t even think I had friends. These were individuals who were too happy to let me down when I needed them most and then years back, I realized something… people pray for good health, success in examinations, wisdom, etcetera, it was totally okay for me to pray for good friends and be happy once again and so I knelt in prayer and asked! Yes, I asked. I told God I wanted friends who can stand by me always, in every situation. Friends who weren’t necessarily perfect but who would be faithful. Faithfulness was the bottom line. You know what? God answered that prayer. As if a tap had been opened and water was oozing from a hose, good friends came my way, people who shared my passions and dreams. And people who were different from me but faithful all the same. They literarily ‘flowed’ into my life. I was OVERWHELMED!!! What!? Was I dreaming? Did God just answer my prayer? I thought. That was in Zaria, while I was still in the university and almost each day, my apartment was filled with guests, guests, guests…. And I would cook, cook, cook… serve everybody and when we had all chatted, prayed and laughed and shared inspirational and educational stories, they would go home, leaving a smile across my face and a lasting impression upon my heart! I’ve used my own story to tell you that praying for good friends is totally okay! The best things in life are the ones God ordains and makes to happen. You cannot simply assure yourself saying anyone you meet and get along with can be your friend. Well, guess what? I have been there and I thought that way too. I believed I could just meet someone who seems nice and they could be my friend but I realized over time that faces don’t reveal hearts’ intentions. Yes! That fellow seems friendly but are you two compatible as friends? To what extent do you know him or her? Are you at crossroads right now? Do what I did… get on your knees and pray and the answers will overwhelm you! As a child I was all too familiar with losing one’s friend – My friend, Rachel died when I was in primary school. Our (My brother and I) friend left for London as a child and I was alone… no playmates. To add salt to the open wounds I was nursing, my brother left for boarding School. At this point, alone wouldn’t haven’t best described what I was feeling. But my breaking point came when I lost my brother. Rachel had died, Daniel left for London, my brother had left for School and now, the one I put all hope in, my young brother, had died. This dealt a painful blow to my heart and that was the end of my sunny childhood. I became a shy, withdrawn and SENSITIVE girl! My brother was ill, so many months had come and gone and I only wished he’d get better so I could have a playmate (What does a child know? Play comes first, always) but he never made it. All I wanted all through early life was a faithful friend who would hold my hand and tell me It’s Okay! That faithful friend who travelled the entire path with me was and is JESUS! HE has never left my side, not for a day… HE has always been here to listen and to give advises and HE is the same person who has brought me good friends. HE can do the same for you, just do what I did, pray. You may think praying for friends is ridiculous but it’s essential as God gives us EVERYTHING in life, friends inclusive. If HE gives you shelter, a spouse, security, HE can also give you friends! Just ask, ask and it shall be given you. Remember, even JESUS had friends but before HE set out to choose these friends, HE had to PRAY… And though they weren’t all perfect but they were and are still the reason the Gospel got to us today!
Praying that you be blessed with good and faithful friends!
Rita Pam Tarachi
