An Ex-Con's Plea for a Friend

Today I went to my office mailbox and found a letter intended for me. As soon as I saw the return name on the outside of the envelope, I had an inclination of who it may be from. As I opened the letter, I knew I was right on. I met a guy a few months back who I connected with in the lobby of our church. He was looking for someone(a pastor) to sign off on a release program form that allowed him to go to church on Sunday mornings. I offered to sign it and over the course of two months signed off every Sunday and struck up a first name basis friendship and conversation week to week. This past weekend at church I realized that for the past few weeks I have not had the privilege to sign any forms and hadn't seen this guy, and the friends he started bringing with him. At last count he was bringing 3 other friends, and sat in the same spot every week. Today, the letter was to tell me that he had been moved and in the process got real discouraged and was reaching out for a friend(apparently one of his only) and encouragement. I realized that although my connection was limited in my view, the connection for him was huge. He wanted prayer, he wanted encouragement, he wanted direction, and he wanted a friend. His letter indicated he had no family or friends and I interpreted his letter to say, you are my friend, HELP. It got me thinking of how many times we(I) may take for granted the fact that people really value you(me)! I sat down and wrote a hand written letter because I figured it would be more powerful than a letter I could crank out on a keyboard in 2 minutes. I also took some devotional thoughts that have been an encouragement to me this year and then offered a prayer for him. It made me think about how fortunate I am to have friends, and at the same time how many people I know who really don't. It is sad, but true. I also realized that God puts people in my life at times I may not naturally be-friend (for whatever reason), and that by me being a friend, or friendly, may make a huge impression in someone else's life. Those are the friends I would want anyway, no matter what a past may look like, God doesn't care, and neither should I. Today, I realized I had a friend in someone who counts me as one of their only friends, and I value that because if I was looking for a friend, I would want and need a person to encourage me-just as a friend. SO, I am down with that! Would you be too?