NOT Walking ALONE

SERIES: Don't Worry...Be Happy? (5 of 5)
NOT Walking ALONE

What a month to be talking about “Don’t worry”. So far we’ve talked about the choice we have to control our thinking in difficult times (choose joy!), about the choice to worry or to work to prevent or persevere in the midst of these hard times, how these difficulties can actually bring direction in our life and lastly hope that we do not have to walk through hard times alone...we have faith, family and friends to walk with us.
   
When people talk about family, there is definitely no “one-size-fits-all”. Large and small, loud our quiet, expressive or “just there for each other.” Then many of us have friends that are “like family”. Growing up, us kids never called adults by their first name so everybody was Mr, Mrs. or Miss Whomever...except for those “like family” friends of my parents who became “Uncle Mike and Aunt Jan” even though they were no blood relation. 
   
I was blessed with a strong healthy family and I hope you were, too. I am doubly blessed because both of my parents are still living, I get to see them regularly, and they still pour into my life. But for some, that is not what “family” is like. You may not have many family members close to you emotionally or geographically. In that case, I hope you have a friend or two who are, as Solomon described them, “closer than a brother”. These are the friends you can turn to in any situation and they will have your .
   
Storms are definitely easier to weather when we have family or friends to go through them with us. But if you look at your life right now and say, “my family and friends are not as close as I need them to be”, you still do not have to walk alone. My mother is not alone, however she is pretty much home bound, even before COVID-19). She is not lonely because she spends her days being a friend. She can’t get out, but she texts words of encouragement or a short prayer to those she knows. My mother is not only a friend, but now these friends check on her as well...she is not alone.
   
Be encouraged by family & friends today or be a friend. Don’t worry, be happy. You do not have to walk through storms alone. 
   
I am praying for you today,
Pastor Rob

Links to other posts in this series: Don't Worry, Be Happy- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4