The Things You Do for Friends

Hello, friends! I enjoyed following along with Tanner Olsen's writing prompts so much that I asked for some from you guys. And you delivered! Today's prompt is "the things you do for friends," thanks, LeeAnna! :)

I brag on my friends a lot on my blog, and they deserve it. I honestly don't know how I would have gotten through the past few years without them. But one thing I don't talk about very often is how much I enjoy being a friend. I'm perfectly happy to brag on my friends. Bragging on myself is weird, and that's what this is going to sound like at first.

I love being a good friend, you guys. I love washing my friends' dishes when they're overflowing. I love watering their flowers when they're gone. I love helping them pack and unpack. I love picking something up for them when they can't. I love making soup for them when they're sick. I do! I just absolutely love doing those things for my friends. It makes my heart so full.

Obviously, I also love being a silly friend. I'll hide sticky notes around your place if left alone for five minutes. I'll send your significant other obnoxious text messages. I'll poke your shoulder over and over for an hour. I'll put weird events in your phone calendar. I'll tell you terrible puns every day for the rest of your life.

I love joking around and being ridiculous, but here's the thing: I know how much of a difference even the tiniest of kind gestures can make. If I can make that kind of difference, I'm going to, especially for my friends.

I couldn't be that kind of good friend for four years, because I didn't have many friends in Oklahoma. It felt like I took and took and never had the opportunity to give. I was a single mother without any family close by, so of course I had to ask for help a lot, but I was never asked to reciprocate. I didn't realize how much I missed that opportunity until I moved back to Wisconsin.

Back to the prompt: "the things you do for friends." Those things look different for everyone, don't they? I've explained my things, but those things might not be your things, and that is perfectly okay. Wonderful, even! I'm reminded of the love languages - words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, quality time, physical touch. We're all different. We all naturally show our love in different ways.

So find your language, and speak it joyfully. Speak it loudly, or speak it in whispers, but don't let anything silence you. Find the kind of love that fills your heart while it fills the hearts of others. Be the person God made you to be - loving in your own way.