FRIENDS!

How many of us have them?

I went back home to Los Angeles a few weeks ago for my nephew's graduation. Well, actually the graduation took place in San Diego. During the drive from L.A. to San D., my sister decided to play some oldies but goodies songs as well as raps on the car CD player just for kicks. Boy oh boy, were we laughing at how different the raps of yesterday sound compared to the junk (excuse me raps) of today.

My son was such a trooper because I know he was in the backseat suffering while we went on and on about how many of the songs and the raps of yesterday usually had positive messages. The ones that didn't have a positive message were just downright silly and pretty much harmless. "I said ah Hip- hop - duh hibby duh hibby hibby hip hip hop you don't stop to rocking to the bang bang boogie said up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogety beat". "Psycho-alpha-disco-beta-bio-aquadoodloop..the underwater boogie baby...yeah Oh". Harmless right? Nobody was getting shot, running from the police, selling drugs, saying every cuss word in the book, disrespecting their parents, calling women names that are degrading or any of that type of junk.

One of the raps that my sister had on the oldies but goodies CD was called "FRIENDS". Do you remember it? "Friends, how many of us have them.....Friends, ones we can depend on... Well I had totally forgotten that this song/rap even existed. But you know, it got me to thinking that having, or keeping even just one good friend in this crazy world we live in is as rare as finding a four leaf clover.

Today's blog is dedicated to friendship. If you have a good friend, husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, Mom, Dad, brother, sister, son, daughter, cousin or anyone in your life who you think is special and they feel the same way about you, count yourself blessed. If you haven't come across a loyal person in your life yet that you can share your heart with, then pray and ask God to place that person in your path. God will do it. God never intended us to stand alone, hurt alone, or even laugh alone. This is why we email jokes to each other all the time. We don't want to laugh alone, we want to share the FUNNY! We all need each other. I heard a saying that goes " One of the strangest things about someone with definiteness of purpose, is the readiness at which the world steps aside & even helps them in their aim". This means that in order for us to accomplish our purpose, there will be others in our lives to help us along.

I began thinking, "how well do I really know my friends and how well do they really know me"? We rush through life from day to day investing ourselves into things that really don't even matter. What really matters is people, relationships and sharing the love of God with others. Everything else is just gravy.

One of my friends recently sent me a "Getting to know you" question and answer page. When I first saw it, I laughed because this particular friend has known me since the 5th grade. I won't tell you how many years it has been now since we have known one another because then that would give away my age.....but let's just say it has been a long, long time. Anyhoo, I filled out the page. I looked at her answer page too. It was then that I realized how you could know someone for forever and not even take the time to know them in depth. To tell you the truth, I didn't even know how to answer some of the questions for my own answer page, which means that I haven't taken the time to REALLY get to know myself. How sad but how true. You know, we can't even begin to be a good friend to someone else until we have learned how to be a good friend to ourselves.

Below, I will be giving you a FRIENDSHIP question and answer quiz. Take the time to answer these questions about yourself and then answer the same questions about a good friend of yours. See how much you really know about yourself and your friends. If you can't answer at least half of the questions correctly about a friend then it is time to stop watching TV and start prioritizing your friendships and relationships.

The Friendship Quiz

1. Favorite color

2. Favorite food

3. Favorite animal

4. Favorite song

5. Favorite season (winter, summer, fall, spring)

6. Favorite holiday

7. Vacation: skiing in the mountains / relaxing on a tropical beach

8. Watching TV / Reading a good book

9. Popcorn / Peanuts

10. Cake / Pie

11. A big party with lots of people / a small party with close friends

12. Sports car / SUV

13. Romantic date: casual picnic on the beach / fancy candle-lit dinner

14. Disneyland / Six Flags

15. Clothing preference: Dressy / Casual

16. Iced Tea / Lemonade

17 Favorite ice cream flavor

18. Cat / Dog

19. Bird / Fish

20. Favorite car color

21. Name a hobby

22. Name a talent

23. Funny, loud or outgoing / Quiet, shy, laid back / Perfect mix

24. Favorite scripture

25. Favorite candy

Now, if you have answered at least half of these correctly, then you are well on your way to being a good and interested friend. Here is one more question. See if you can answer it. Who is your very best friend....he sticks closer than any brother...he gave his life for you....he loves you more than you love yourself? Did you guess? That's right! JESUS!

P.S. Make sure you Click it or Ticket so that I will know that you took the quiz!