Day 22 | Matilda’s story

Reflection

Friendship can be a real gift to the people around us, but sometimes things go wrong, and we need to do the work of restoration.

Matilda was feeling particularly stirred up for God and was keen to talk about it. When she walked into work one Monday morning and went to the coffee station to make a drink, her atheist colleague Alex asked about her weekend, so she decided to take the plunge. She jumped right in with a long monologue about how great Jesus is and how good church was yesterday. Alex nodded politely, but as soon as he’d finished making his gunpowder tea he made his excuses and calmly walked back to his desk.

Instead of their normal friendliness, Alex avoided her – he stopped smiling at her when she passed his desk and barely mumbled a response to her cheerful ‘morning’ when they saw each other in the café area. Walking through a supermarket days later, Matilda felt bad and was praying ‘God I’m sorry, that didn’t go well, how can I fix it?’ And there, in the tea aisle, was Alex’s favourite gunpowder tea. So she bought a packet and left it on his desk, with a note saying, ‘a present from the tea fairy.’

The next day Alex came up to her and said ‘Were you the tea fairy? Thanks.' Slowly but surely, they began to repair their friendship. A few weeks later, Alex started to ask Matilda some big questions about her faith, and what it was all about.

This story isn’t included to discourage you, but to encourage you to keep going! Even when we muck things up a bit, God can still do great stuff. Proverbs 27 reminds us of what a gift friendship can be to those around us, bringing the restorative work of God into our everyday lives.

Jesus, help me to restore friendships where they are broken. Show me where to love today, and let your love shine through me. Amen.