September FMF Preserve, Build and Renew

Friendships are the threads woven into the tapestry of one's life. 

September20-Matter

Iridescent threads
Shimmering in sunlight
Woven in my heart.
I imagine God showing me a tapestry of my life in heaven. Family and friends who have shaped my life will be like shimmering sunbeams woven throughout. The iridescent lines of friendship will burst forth in a prismatic array of colors, revealing the depths of God's love.

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. Proverbs 27:17


Book by Jennie Allen, Find Your People: Building a Deep Community in a Lonely World. 

Page… God has set a time and a place to love people, and others love you in ways that draw you toward Him. 
Your inner circle is gone due to friends (or you) moving away, busyness, or not maintaining relationships. The ache of loneliness is real. This is a reminder of the importance of maintaining relationships. 
What steps can be taken to keep these connections? 
The time to reach out and build is now, beginning with the people in front of you. Find friends you are willing to be transparent with and accountable to, with a shared purpose of serving each other. One person cannot be everything. Find your sage friend, the encourager, the challenger, and the fun one. 
Be each other's core group by building a community through the network of friendship. 

Page 49. "It will take deliberate intention to return to the kinds of relationships that God had in mind for us to enjoy: Proximity, Transparency, Accountability, and Consistency."
It will take trust and practice. It will take learning to ask the right questions, learn to listen and learn to listen with the Holy Spirit's ears.

Page 129. "Pride is our insistence that our opinion is Bible truth...our good works...our virtue."

Page 135. "Truth in love is the safest place to be." 

Page 218. Remember, this is a learning process, and we will make mistakes. "A friend says she tries to react to patterns, not one-offs. Everyone messes up unless it is habitually."

Page 165. "Bearing one another's burdens means to get close enough to get up under that burden alongside you."
In the movie The Forge, Isaiah is handed a sword to hold, but after a few minutes, it becomes too heavy to carry alone. His arm begins to shake. Then, his brothers step forward and offer their support with two fingers. He can hold it up without shaking.

Page 217. How to build, strengthen and preserve old and new friendships: 
Ask real questions
Listen to everything, the whole message
Tell each one what you are grateful for in them
Talk about Jesus
Do fun stuff together. 

September 6- Youth