Once

"There was once a little plant that was small and whose growth was stunted, for it lived under the shade of a giant oak tree. The little plant valued the shade that covered it and highly regarded the quiet rest that it's noble friend provided. Yet there was a greater blessing prepared for this little plant.
One day, a woodsman entered the forest with a sharp ax and felled the giant oak. The little plant began to weep, crying, "my shelter had been taken away. Now every fierce wind will blow on me, and every storm will seek to uproot me."

The guardian angle of the little plant responded, "no! Now the sun will shine and showers will fall on you more abundantly than ever before. Now your stunted form will spring up into loveliness, and your flowers, which could never have grown to full perfection in the shade, will laugh in the sunshine. And people in amazement will say, 'look how that plant has grown! How gloriously beautiful it has become by removing that which was its shade and delight!'" 

Dear believer, do you understand that God may take away your privileges and comforts in order to make u stronger? Do u see why The Lord always trains His soldiers not by allowing them to lie on beds of ease but by calling them to difficult marches and service? He makes them wade through streams, swim across rivers and walk many long marches carrying heavy backpacks of sorrow. This is how he develops soldiers - not by dressing them up in fine uniforms to strut at gates of the barracks or appear as handsome gentleman. 

No, God knows that soldiers can only be made in battle and are not developed in times of peace. "
Surgeon, C

Friends

Overheard this phrase few days ago while walking: "Friends are diamonds/gold"  *Reflected*

 And thought - Maybe it's more accurate to see friends as diamonds-in-the-making, refining-gold in the furnace instead; because being a friend is not just looking at someone in a certain loving treasuring way, but to be a part of the process of the refining, the critiquing, the moulding, the nudging - it takes courage/boldness to surface honest, hard truths, it takes commitment to walk with someone through it, it takes love to keep the interest of the other at heart at all times, it takes prayer and discipline to work through what part you are to play in his/her life...

"Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. Proverbs 27:6"