BFFs

I read an article online about Oprah and her bestie, Gayle King. With all the wild rumours surrounding their friendship, I was curious to learn how they themselves viewed their bond.  Oprah's an up front sort of person and I believe her when she says there's nothing dodgy going on between them.  It's not a relationship that's easy to define but it does seem to be something really special and well worth hanging onto. I have to say that I got goosebumps reading it. A friendship like theirs must be one in a million and to have the priviledge of a wholesome, intimate love like theirs isn't to be taken for granted.  It's a long article but worth reading if you're interested in finding out more about how these two women define themselves although that said, I wonder why on earth they should need to. Take a look if you like: Gayle King and Oprah Uncensored I especially like this comment from the interviewer, Lisa Kogan: "People ache for a connection...They want someone who doesn't have an agenda, doesn't see you filtered through the prism of their own needs." Profound, eh?

Love like this doesn't come by every day.

Apparantly Oprah and Gayle speak at least 4 - 5 times every single day. If they haven't had the chance to contact each other then the day just doesn't feel right to them.  I'm also lucky enough have a special friend or two that touch base with me daily, whether it's a text, an e-mail, on Facebook...the day just wouldn't seem right if I hadn't heard from them. Sometimes when I receive a text from an extra special friend, a smile creeps across my face as I look forward to reading what they have to say. Even if they're just telling me what they're having for lunch, I just can't help grinning no matter how discreet I try to be with my phone on vibrate. Anyone who's fallen in love with Jesus can probably see the similarity in their walk with Him and these special friendships. Things just don't feel right if we haven't been in touch with the Best Friend we can ever have. Apart from filling a very basic need to be loved, I think God gives us close companionship with others to offer us a glimpse of how to love Him.  And I like to think that when Jesus gets a "message alert" from me, He might get that same smile on his face.  He adores me more than I can ever know and is hoping to hear from me, even if it is just a silly little story about my day. I think He's itching to reply to me and tell me about His plans too.

Hey Jesus? It's just me. How're You doing? Want to hear about my day?

I'm a hopeless pray-er. I hear people talk about spending an hour in the mornings praying and reading the Bible, wearing out their carpet with their knee caps and I'm afraid I'm just not in their league. Organising a Quiet Time in my house is Mission Impossible sometimes but I can and certainly do manage to keep in touch with my Majestical Bestie at regular intervals throughout the day.  Sometimes I get tongue-tied and can't even form complete sentences (that happens with my earthly friends too). But God has no agenda with me. He doesn't have any needs. He just loves me and enjoys it when I come into His presence - even when I'm making no sense at all.

So Lord, you are my very best, most intimate BFF. Any day without You in it just wouldn't be living, it would simply be existence. And if I should have the privilege of loving another person the way Gayle loves Oprah, then I'll embrace it and understand it as a tangible example of loving You.

Sometimes there's nothing quite like a hug from the One who loves me most

Boogers come out my nose when I cry

I was having a conversation with someone about the word "maudlin" the other day. Despite achieving School Certificate English in 1978, it was a new word to me. It turns out that my friend had been feeling a bit maudlin and when I asked for an explanation, she described it as a bit "Eeyoreish". Not surprisingly, that was a word I could understand a little more clearly.

Me and my Eeyoreish friend :-)

Neither of us were fully satisfied with our definition so we raced to our respective homes to find a dictionary.  My friend beat me to it - she's also beating me in online Scrabble at the moment.  It turns out that maudlin means "foolishly tearful or sentimental, as when drunk

[from Middle English Maudelen Mary Magdalene, typically portrayed as a tearful penitent]"

This is a maudlin drunk

I got to wondering about the connection between the word and Mary Magdalene. I can understand that the word sounds ever so slightly like her name, but I was never aware that she was foolishly tearful while drunk.  I've seen a few Booze Hags in my time (you know who you are!) and hadn't really pictured Mary as one of them.

This is apparantly Mary Magdalene and I don't think she's had a drop

So I wondered, if it wasn't the booze, what was Mary always weeping about?  When I think of her, I think of a woman who had a bit of a chequered past. Someone who felt pretty icky about some of the things she'd done. Someone just like...ME. When I think of her meeting Jesus, and hearing Him tell her that she was okay by Him, I think I can picture her having a right snot fest at the wonder of someone so magnificent loving her just as she was.  The art work we see of Mary Magdalene crying is a bit glamorous I think. She doesn't have puffy eyes or boogers dangling off the end of her nose. Her mascara doesn't even run.  Mine does...

...I don't even look this pretty:

This is a Snot-Fest

I've decided that I quite like the way Mary Magdalene cries. Her tears remind me of forgiveness, being unconditionally loved no matter what, being able to love someone else (in her case, Jesus) so much that it makes you leak uncontrollably.  I want to be able to love like that.  Maybe feeling slightly maudlin once in a while isn't so bad - just stay away from the plonk.

 Incidentally, during the course of our conversation I told my Eeyoreish friend my mother's middle names: Maud Ellen. She thought it was hillarious.

Forgiven

So I stuffed up last weekend.  Not just a teensy little boo boo - this was something REALLY BIG.  Not only did this BIG stuff up hurt a lot of people who love me, it was also the catalyst for another disaster.  Beloved got such a shock that he suffered a massive blood clot in his lung and nearly died.  In fact hospital staff were amazed that he didn't.

But he didn't.

And God knows what I did.

And He loves me and forgives me anyway. 

He really is a very very nice God.