Devotional by Paula Sanders Blackwell
I asked my good friend and author, Paula Sanders Blackwell, of devotional and prayer journal ‘Lessons from my Hard Head’ to guest blog for me today. www.paulablackwell.com
Friendship and Love
I moved to Houston three years ago today. Initially, I told my husband I was too old to start over with new friends.
I lived in Atlanta for twenty years and I had a core group of friends. And I had friends I considered family.
I was determined not to make any new friends because I told myself I was too old to make new friends. My rationale was I love you so I will move; but don’t expect me to make friends. He laughed at me.
I began working out at the gym daily. I noticed a young lady and we spoke and one day we struck up a conversation. We were both teachers and we were both plotting our Christmas vacations. Guess what? We became friends.
God sent her to me because he wanted to teach me, I still had the capacity to become a friend at my age. And my new friend is a Muslim. I’ve learned so much about her life and religion. We both share a love for children and a love for God. She callls him Allah, I call him God. But we both call him. God provided a lesson in our relationship and that lesson was that love can bridge many things.
God has given each of us the capacity to love. It doesn’t matter if we are different there can still be common ground. If we all would sit and learn to accept others and learn to love despite the differences what a wonderful world it would be.
Lesson learned.
God’s Reminder-
1 John 4:7–8 NIV
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.