Have you ever heard a rumor about one of your best friends and thought to yourself, "Hmm...that doesn't sound like something she/he would do!" You immediately call up your friend, and sure enough, it was a vicious lie started by a jealous co-worker. You were able to discriminate between truth and gossip, because you knew your friend. You know what your friend likes or dislikes. You know the type of person they are and what values they uphold. You've spent years getting to know your friend, and so, it is was fairly easy for you to "smell something fishy" when the rumor started. Those who didn't know your friend, however, were fooled into believing that the rumor was true. Similarly, it is har
We have not seen each other for months. As I catch her up on the latest news, my best friend receives a text message...then another...and another. She shares, "This will only take a second, but keep going, I'm still listening," and so I continue. While she texted, I shared with her the struggles of the past couple months balancing school and work. I expressed my immense joy in finally finding the person I felt God was calling me to be with, and as I looked to her to celebrate, I suddenly realized that she hadn't really heard me. She would say, "uh huh...uh huh..." every now and again, but her lack of a genuine response revealed to me that she wasn't actually listening. Have you ever tried to
