We Found a Friend

Today at the zoo my first-grader was having a hard time seeing the snakes in their cages.

Immediately my son’s friend, not much older & not much taller than him, wrapped his arms around my boy, using all his strength to lift my son. 

“Do you see it?” 

“Yeah I see it!”

I had to laugh because he was BARELY off the ground- literally only an inch or two!

But it was not how high he lifted him that warmed my heart; it was that he noticed his need & cared enough to try! 

Last night my 10-year-old daughter was begging for a pet. I’m like, we have a cat! She wailed, “But he doesn’t like me! I want a pet who LIKES me!” 

She dramatically explained that the cat ALWAYS sleeps in her older sister’s room, NEVER in hers. I told her we aren’t getting another pet. And she moped about it for a good while.

When bedtime came, I made my rounds to say goodnight. 

To my surprise, I see my daughter in her bed happily stroking the cat, who is on his cat bed on a chair next to her bed.

Turns out her sister (with the help of her brother) had gently lifted the cat bed with the cat in it, transferred it to the chair, then slowly wheeled it into her room, careful not to disturb the cat so he wouldn’t run off. All so that maybe he would sleep in HER room that night. 

It touched my mom heart!❤️

And I haven’t heard one thing about getting a new pet today. 🙌🏼

In my life, people have crossed my path during different times & seasons exactly when I needed them. They have been there when I needed lifting, even if an inch is all it took. They’ve gently wheeled in love & care when I felt down & unloved. I look back and see:

It was no coincidence.

Joseph was “persecuted by those who ought to have been [his] friends and to have treated [him] kindly” (JSH 1:28) He & his loved ones suffered so much. But “in the midst of [their] afflictions [they] found a friend.” (61) 

Martin Harris shows up, not as a perfect man, but as a friend- risking his own finances & reputation so the work could go forward. He was there right when Joseph needed him, as were many others.

It was no coincidence.

“Ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their ​​​afflictions.” (Mos. 24:14)