Lifeline From a Friend

Lifeline From a Friend

I have a routine I follow most every day now. As part of my recovery, I have learned that rituals and routines are important. So, (if I actually get up when my alarm goes off), my mornings usually go something like this:

• Turn on coffee pot
• Feed dog & cat (Doc & Curtie)
• Take Doc for morning walk (rain or shine)
• Drink coffee -lots and lots of coffee
• Make my bed, straighten apartment up
• Fix some breakfast to take with me
• Check email as time allows and then,
• Sit down for my morning reflection time

I read from my AA Daily Reflections book and my NA “Just for Today” meditation book. I read from a devotional I like, written by Philip Yancy, called Grace Notes.  I read from my Bible (currently I’m in the Gospel of Matthew). And I write in my journal. But there is one more step I take, and it is so important to me – for my well being today, and as both a link to good things from my past, and a stepping stone to my future.

You see, many, many years ago, my heart friend was looking for a birthday present for me. My birthday is in May, and of course because my friend is just a little weird, she finally found what she was looking for and gave it to me in October. But it was worth the wait. She gave me a devotional book that is more precious to me than any other single book I own, save the Bible itself.

It is Oswald Chamber’s devotional book called- My Utmost for His Highest. I have used that little book so much that it is now dog eared, creased, highlighted, underlined, and written in to the max. Pages are loose and I have to be careful not to lose any of them when I open it. The book is well loved and in fact, is almost unusable. The key word in that sentence is “almost.” I could purchase a new one, and I even have an updated version (that I hardly ever use). But I return to this one, again, and again, and again, simply because I cannot bear to part with this most precious gift.  

My friend and I have not seen each other in several years – but we have recently reconnected through Facebook and through this Blog. (Hi Con!) And we have a weekend get together planned soon. I can hardly wait to see her. She has been and is such an important part of my life.

Anyway, here is the main point of all of this. If God calls you to do something nice for someone, do it. Even if it is several months late. Because you never know when that something you do will end up being a lifeline for a friend.

So thank you my friend, for giving me a lifeline that I have hung onto, sometimes only by my fingernails, through many joys, trials, defeats and victories. You are one of my lifelines to the Giver of Life Himself. I love you – heart friend.  

Caro