May 16th
“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
When reading this quote from Emerson we need to remember that friends are only a part of the ornaments used to decorate a home. For some, the emphasis here is on the first “THE” ornament as if it meant the ONLY decoration, enhancement, or enrichment of a house is the friends who come and go. To others the importance falls on the FREQUENT issue. They figure that if they don’t have many friends coming and going in a social spree anyone would be jealous of then they don’t have much at all.
Whether it’s the only decoration or a part of many other pieces put together what’s important is the treasure of being a friend and having friends. Even if they’re not close enough to come and visit us daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly is not the important factor here.
We are not or never should be measured by how many friends we have coming and going but more by the quality of friendship we share with those we call “our friends.” Getting to the point of knowing who “they” are is a hard lesson to learn. Recently my grandson ran into some problems with his friends at school. At the right time and the wrong place they turned on him showing their true worth as so-called “friends.” Probably to no consolation to him my daughter told him he just learned something all of us have had to learn but in a different school. The school of hard knocks the lesson on what a true friend is all about.
Once we stop and look at the decorations or ornaments left behind from friends over time we can see jewels such as love, laughter, tears of joy, sobs of anger, moments we’ll always treasure, times we wonder if we’ll ever forget, and so much more. What we do with these ornaments is important. Putting them all together they can almost come out like some sort of color-by-number picture. Each friend contributing to the overall picture his or her friendship has brought into our lives.
Along with the colorful characteristics brought out through our own gift of friendship to others we can come up with a pretty awesome ornament. A fine piece of artwork unique in quality, priceless in value a true treasure to be hung upon the wall of our heart
CLOSING THOUGHT: Whether our friends’ number between one and five or 20 to 50 it doesn’t matter as long as Christ is included in that number as one of the ornaments decorating our life because of the friendship we can share with Him. In one scripture in Luke 7:34 Jesus was accused of being a “friend of tax collectors and SINNNNEERRRS!” You could almost hear the sarcasm in the voice of those saying that. Praise the Lord that is the case. That Jesus is willing to
be a friend to the sinner. I don’t know about you, but unfortunately I fall into that category more often than not! Having Him as our friend adds decoration, enhancement, and enrichment to a home that is emptier than we often want to admit.
From servant to friend, from empty to full, from lonely to being surrounded by someone who cares we have an opportunity for having such a friend in Christ Jesus. A friend that the school of hard knocks or life itself, as it’s called, can’t touch, hinder or take away.
A friendship guaranteed to leave large amounts of ornaments too many in number to count. Too rich in blessings to be able to register it’s worth. Advancing us way beyond any color-by-number picture we could ever imagine. Our part is the time and effort we are willing to invest is this hand-painted ornament decorated by the joys and treasures we share between us. Pick your jewels. Treasure your friends.
“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
When reading this quote from Emerson we need to remember that friends are only a part of the ornaments used to decorate a home. For some, the emphasis here is on the first “THE” ornament as if it meant the ONLY decoration, enhancement, or enrichment of a house is the friends who come and go. To others the importance falls on the FREQUENT issue. They figure that if they don’t have many friends coming and going in a social spree anyone would be jealous of then they don’t have much at all.Whether it’s the only decoration or a part of many other pieces put together what’s important is the treasure of being a friend and having friends. Even if they’re not close enough to come and visit us daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly is not the important factor here.
We are not or never should be measured by how many friends we have coming and going but more by the quality of friendship we share with those we call “our friends.” Getting to the point of knowing who “they” are is a hard lesson to learn. Recently my grandson ran into some problems with his friends at school. At the right time and the wrong place they turned on him showing their true worth as so-called “friends.” Probably to no consolation to him my daughter told him he just learned something all of us have had to learn but in a different school. The school of hard knocks the lesson on what a true friend is all about.
Once we stop and look at the decorations or ornaments left behind from friends over time we can see jewels such as love, laughter, tears of joy, sobs of anger, moments we’ll always treasure, times we wonder if we’ll ever forget, and so much more. What we do with these ornaments is important. Putting them all together they can almost come out like some sort of color-by-number picture. Each friend contributing to the overall picture his or her friendship has brought into our lives.
Along with the colorful characteristics brought out through our own gift of friendship to others we can come up with a pretty awesome ornament. A fine piece of artwork unique in quality, priceless in value a true treasure to be hung upon the wall of our heart
CLOSING THOUGHT: Whether our friends’ number between one and five or 20 to 50 it doesn’t matter as long as Christ is included in that number as one of the ornaments decorating our life because of the friendship we can share with Him. In one scripture in Luke 7:34 Jesus was accused of being a “friend of tax collectors and SINNNNEERRRS!” You could almost hear the sarcasm in the voice of those saying that. Praise the Lord that is the case. That Jesus is willing to
be a friend to the sinner. I don’t know about you, but unfortunately I fall into that category more often than not! Having Him as our friend adds decoration, enhancement, and enrichment to a home that is emptier than we often want to admit.From servant to friend, from empty to full, from lonely to being surrounded by someone who cares we have an opportunity for having such a friend in Christ Jesus. A friend that the school of hard knocks or life itself, as it’s called, can’t touch, hinder or take away.
A friendship guaranteed to leave large amounts of ornaments too many in number to count. Too rich in blessings to be able to register it’s worth. Advancing us way beyond any color-by-number picture we could ever imagine. Our part is the time and effort we are willing to invest is this hand-painted ornament decorated by the joys and treasures we share between us. Pick your jewels. Treasure your friends.
This week, Heather is hosting "In 'Other' Words" at her site, Mommy Monk. Pop in over there and take a look at the other ornaments people have to share regarding their friends.
Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing
3 comments:
"We are not or never should be measured by how many friends we have coming and going but more by the quality of friendship we share with those we call “our friends.”"
That is so true, Karen :)
I enjoyed reading your take on this, and thanks for popping over to my blog.
God bless,
AutumnRose xx
All it takes is ONE true friend to make a home a beautiful place. And friendship does have its ups and downs but like the paint by number picture, it all blends together to make something beautiful. Nicely said.
Thank you so so much for your encouraging post as always; It really had me stop and think due to a tearful moment I had and now in reflection....I so needed this post!
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