Yakerb Wadadj- "Close Friends"

The name of my blog is burakaeyae, meaning "my blessings." I was reminded today of how much God has blessed me with a few yakerb wadadj (close friends) who are truly burakaeyae. I'm talking about the kind of friend who knows the intimate parts of your heart and who allows you to know the same in them. The kind of friend who loves you and accepts you exactly as you are in the moment, extending grace, yet at the same time, calling you to be more. The kind of friend who comes alongside you and lovingly calls out the secretly beautiful parts that hide inside all of our hearts. The kind of friend who never tries to be your savior by fixing the things in your life that are wrong, but instead listens patiently, then lovingly points you to God, entrusting you to the Father that will love you perfectly. The kind of friend who will allow their own heart to break with grief for you by letting you hurt alone before God where you will find the ultimate healing for a broken heart. The kind of friend where it's okay to be together and just be quiet. The kind of friend who wants to really work at the friendship to see it grow and flourish into all that God intends for it to be. The kind of friend where you know that regardless of what happens, God will always bring you back together as friends. I remember one time I got into a pretty heated argument with one of yakerb wadadjae (my close friends) and when it became pretty evident that it wasn't going to get solved that particular day, I told her we'd just have to settle it later, but that I knew it would be okay, and not to worry because I was sure we'd live to fight another day. Sure enough, we eventually hugged and made up, both revealing the secret reasons for why we'd reacted the way we did. Sure enough, we lived to fight another day and I'm sure we'll fight another day again. I am so blessed, that I have friends who will actually call me up and tell me when they see something in my life that they think I might need to examine and change. Now, that takes courage. The last time that happened to me was... well, it was this morning via an email! That's what made me start thinking about what a lucky girl I am to have friends like that. Lord knows how much I need people in my life to help keep me in line! Seriously, if I have an audience that thinks I'm funny, it's hard to know what might come out of my mouth. And as long as they keep encouraging me by laughing, I'll keep 'em rolling! It's a strength. It's a weakness. Isn't it always that way?! That's what the issue this morning was, and how thankful I am that one of yakerb wadadjae love me enough to tell me that I wasn't as funny as I intended to be. It wasn't the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last! Another time I had a yakerb wadadj call me up after seeing for months that I had allowed myself to become quite increasingly judgemental of a particular group of people that I was having to deal with on a weekly basis. I hadn't even realized it until she pointed it out to me, but I immediately saw it and was grieved. Actually, I was grieved over the thing that had happened that initially caused the judgement to start. As wounded as I was in the moment, I knew I could trust her even more after that because she had been willing to take the risk in lovingly confronting me with this thing. Anyway, I end this blog with two Bible verses that really sum it up for me. Even if you're not a Christian, or if you don't believe that the Bible is true, I think you'll still like and identify with these two quotes if you've ever had a friend like the ones I just described. (In case these quotes aren't clear, the Bible is actually a compilation of many smaller books. "Proverbs" is one of those smaller books. The first number is the chapter where the quote is found. Then each chapter is divided into "verses" so that it's easier to quickly find a particular quote. The second number that comes after the ":" is the verse)

Proverbs 27:17 says "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." (Or in my case, one woman sharpens another)

Proverbs 27:6 says "Wounds from a friend can be trusted."

To all yakerb wadadjae, thank you for loving me (putting up with me!). :)