07-08-09!

I love numbers, well, not as much as I love words, but today's a cool day as far as numbers go!

Today's 07-08-09 :) (should I wait and post it at 10:11 pm? hehehe...)

Oh, I did speech number 4 today for Toastmasters and I feel like I did well. And no notes!

Here's the transcripts of my speech today, taken from the notes from the women's retreat I spoke at... minus the part where best friends should lead you to dependence on God rather than dependence on themselves...

Speech #4 Poets, Giant Slayers, and Roses....

In my last speech, If you remember, I gave the statistic that 1 in four people have no one to confide in. And this is troublesome, because people who lack social ties but had good health habits were three times more likely to die than those with social connections, regardless of their weight, eating habits or smoking. I concluded that it's better to eat twinkies with friends than eat broccoli alone. I talked about how to reach out and make friends and why.

But do you ever have those friendships that just happen? When you've just met, but you feel like you've known each other forever? Those friendships that don't take time to develop-- they're knit together....

The story of David and Jonathan in the Bible is one of those. David, you've probably heard of. David, as a shepherd boy, shot his slingshot and knocked down the giant Goliath. Jonathan was the son of king Saul. Jonathan was the heir apparent to the throne of Israel, but knew that God appointed David the future king of Israel. They're two very different people. David smelled like sheep, Jonathan smelled like royalty, but they meet and find themselves knit together in friendship.

So, what makes a best friend? What kind of person do you want to be able to confide in? We can see a lot of elements of a good friendship by looking at theirs.

A best friend is one who is like a poet to us. David was a poet. He wrote about half the psalms in the bible. He was expressive and reflective. Now, your friends don't have to be actual poets or artists, but what I mean by a poet is someone who sees things differently than ourselves. Someone with a different perspective of the world, and likes to think and see the beauty in things.

A good friend is a giant slayer. You want a friend who isn't afraid to take risks and try big things. I want someone in my corner who isn't afraid to go big for me.

A good friend is willing to sacrifice their big dreams to help you achieve yours. Jonathan gave up his ambitions of being the future king in order to help David reach his dreams. He sacrificed a great deal, including his relationship with his father.

Now, good friendships do have a cost. Friendships can be painful, but the rewards outweigh the risks.

We should view our friendships like roses. Friendships are wonderful and quite beautiful when handled carefully. Every once in a while, a thorn can stick us. Like the rose not wanting to stick and hurt the gardener on purpose, so are the hurts in our friendships. We all agree that "nobody's perfect", right? When we have been hurt in our relationships with friends we need to remember that, and we shouldn't be shocked by it. That most often, it's carelessness or selfishness that has caused our friend to hurt us. That it was out of not thinking about their actions or thinking of themselves first, rather than direct intention to cause us pain. I know that's often the case when I've stuck my friends, that I was thinking of my own needs above my friend's. Often our friends don't know that they've hurt us. When wounds aren't tended to, they get infected. Such is the grudge that can form by a wound in a friendship that festers. Tend to the wounds. Apply a salve of love. Love covers a multitude of sins.

Friendships have thorns, but also rewards. Life is better when we have poets, giant slayers, and the sweet aroma of roses in our lives. And someone to eat Twinkies with.