Hope and Encouragement for Special Needs MomsSample

Day Two

The Immeasurable Value of Friendship

Scriptures: Proverbs 27:17; John 15:13; Proverbs 17:17

We have a guide to building friendships and connections with others in a book written over 2,000 years ago. The value of true friendship has endured throughout the entire time!

There is value in accountability.

What is a characteristic of a "good friend?" Do you want someone to smile and make small talk with you when you see them occasionally, or do you want something deeper? What do you value in a friendship?

Here's the thing with deep friendships, they can sometimes be uncomfortable. A true friend will hold you accountable. Good friends will rub against each other like steel or iron, thereby scraping and removing the rough spots from each other. By challenging each other, they will sharpen each other in the process. "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17).

Special needs moms aren't afraid of a few rough spots, especially if we know we are refining each other into something sharper and stronger.

There is value in consistency.

I must admit that I wish my days had a little less "consistency" to them: we live by routines because if we don't, minor (okay - major) meltdowns can happen (by my child and me)! When I start to resent the confinement of our rigid routines because that is comforting to my son, I think of John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." This verse is often used when referring to those who die in service to other people, which is an accurate interpretation. However, when applying that verse to the daily Christian life, when we lay down our life in deed, action, and attitude, we can also follow Jesus's commands to love others humbly and abide in Christ.

We can consistently lay down our lives daily in service to Christ by caring for those around us and ourselves. There is immeasurable value in that.

There is value in adversity.

Unfortunately, as special needs moms, we never seem to run out of hardships; be it medical, financial, educational, marital, spiritual, relational…the list keeps going. We learn rather quickly to deal with whatever problems come our way. Since the nature of our lives as caregivers is a 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year job, we deal with much of it alone. However, we aren't meant to deal with adversity alone.

We know that God is always with us. God will always provide friends, brothers, and sisters in Christ to help us in times of adversity. Proverbs 17:17 says, "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."

I am fortunate to have a friend who I feel was explicitly born for my times of adversity. You may think, "I wish I had such a friend." Take a moment to pray to God for that friend, that sister, who will not shy away from walking through times of adversity with you. Ask God to send someone so you can walk together through those difficult times, knowing you both will see the value in that relationship.

Take a moment to thank God for the value of your friends.