FRIENDS

A couple of weeks ago I googled myself to see if I had done anything. I saw a notice that Wendy Hauer had no friends! Surprised, I went to the internet site to explore. That Wendy was on an arthritis site and needed empathy because of her pain. I couldn’t help because I wasn’t her “friend” Later that week I was invited by an old friend to join “Face book”, another internet site. When I did I found out that “Wendy Hauer” had no friends! I checked out my friend Carol’s friends and asked those I knew if I could be their friends. Now I have 31 friends. These are nieces, nephews, cousins, people I was a visiting teacher to and those who taught me. Some are “my girls”. I was a beehive leader for five years and I am now in touch with almost all of them. Its fun to see what has happened to them in the last twenty five years.
What does it take to make a friend and how important is it?
I know a young man who feels like he has few friends and he has a very sad life. He goes to work and he goes home. His brother, on the other hand is very out going and has many friends. Yet both are kind, loving talented young men. What is the difference. I think it is fear. I know the thing that holds me back in a lot of areas is fear.

OVERCOMING FEAR
“If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of trouble.”— Elbert Hubbard

“The two greatest fear busters are knowledge and action.”—Denis Waitley

“one of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.”—Henry Ford

So how can I get over my fears to make friends? Going to church has helped. Finding people with the same interests helps. At least it puts me in a place where I can make friends.
My husband teases me about my friend the dentist, my friend the chiropractor, my friend the doctor, and even my friend the insurance salesman. These are people who have provided a service for me. Service both given and received is a good friendship builder.
How do you make friends?
I asked my sister, and she said,
“How do I personally make friends? I don't make a lot of close friends. However, I did make a new casual friend on Monday night. She is a neighbor and has been for 20 yrs. I invited the family over for root beer floats, but only the mom and her son's girlfriend could come. Her son wasn't feeling well and she is worried that it is a kidney disease. Her only other child, a young man, died last year after a stroke and staph infection. I just listened to her story for about an hour, and after she left felt like we were now friends, not just across the street neighbors.
Tommy just had sent a scripture for us to ponder. Psalms 37:1-11. I was reminded of that as I read your message. "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so that thou shall dwell in the land and be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give the the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." With that message, who could fear? Relating it to making friends, I guess one could say that if you go about with that message in your heart, you recognize the goodness in other people and it is easy to find common ground.