do you know who your friends are?

do you know who your friends are?

your real friends. not the people who just come along for the ride but the ones who stick with you when the car breaks down. and your mood is sour. and your hair looks bad.

the people who stand by you when everyone else has walked away. when the world calls you failure. when you think you can't go on.

the ones who see you across the room and can tell if you're happy. or sad. or scared.

and then walk across the room to be with you.

to laugh with you. to cry with you. 

to let you know you're not alone.

real friends are the ones who don't care what you're wearing. or if your joke was funny. or if you made a mistake.

they're not in it for you to impress them. or to keep score. or to make you look bad.

they don't have an agenda. or a hidden reason to like you.

they just like you. and they want the best for you. even when it's not the best for them.

real friendship isn't about convenience. or popularity. or comfort.

because- truth be told- sometimes it's not convenient or popular or comfortable at all.

real friendship...lasting friendship...is about love. and value. and sacrifice. 

it's a willingness to help that comes easy. a desire to want the best for another's life. a heart that automatically encourages, intercedes, supports.

true friends can be seen in the ugly moments. when you're not at your best. when your mask is taken off. when you've become who you said you'd never be.

true friends can be seen when the world has turned it's back. and given up on you. and considered you a disappointment.

the Bible says that two are better than one. that when one falls, the other can pick him up. (Ecclesiasties 4:9) 

thank God for that.

because we all fall. more often than we'd like. and we all need someone to pick us up.

and you can bet it will be a friend.

a true one...

today is the first day of the rest of your life

today is the first day of the rest of your life.

sounds corny, i know. and cliche. and something you've heard before.

but did you ever think about it?

did you ever get it?

that if you are alive and breathing at this very moment, then it IS the first day of the rest of your life?

the first day. the first moment. the first chance.

you get to start again.

right now.

everything that is in the past is in the past.

everything that is in the future is in the future.

but today...that's what's right in front of you.

this moment. this day. this opportunity.

to start again. to begin over. to be who you were born to be.

it might be corny and cliche and heard a hundred times before, but think about it.

really think about it.

today is the first day of the rest of YOUR life.

your life. not your friend's life. or your spouse's life. or your parent's life.

your life.

your decisions.

your moments.

your dreams.

it starts today.

it starts again.

it starts right now.

it's your day.

what do you plan to do with it?

why do i still want the prize in the cereal box?

a friend recently asked a question on facebook. he wanted to know if it's ok for a grown man to still eat cereal for breakfast. he assured his friends it wasn't because he was looking for the prize at the bottom of the box anymore. it made me laugh and while i thought about my answer i had to question if i still looked for the prize. if the colorful pictures on the outside of the box still grabbed my attention like they did when i was a kid.

and i have to admit, sometimes they still do.

and somehow the cereal reminded me about life. 

there's a part of me that is totally content with what i have. a part of me that never strays from what i've been given. but there's a small part of me too, that sometimes is attracted to the glamour and the glitz. a part of me that is drawn to the not so good for me because of the lure of the prize at the end.

i wonder where that comes from. a desire to want more. that the cereal (life) by itself isn't good enough. that the prize somehow makes it better.

bigger, better, shiny, new.

more, more, more, more.

they hold such an illusion for a lot of us. as if they hold the secret to life, the path to happiness. but the prize we covet is so often disappointing. it gives us a few moments of pleasure but leaves us in the end, just wanting another prize.

and while life is so much more than a box of cereal, i'm reminded by my friend's question that God is all around us. that His teachings, His lessons can be found in every area of our lives. that the smallest detail is not overlooked. that even the smallest things matter.

and more than anything today, it reminds me that God is in those details.

and He never disappoints.

and HE is my prize.