"My 'Person of the Year'!"

"Time" magazine announced their "Person of the Year" today. As you've heard/seen/read the person is simply "The Protester". From what little I've seen there is some protest about "The Protester", but that's a reflection for another time.

What I was thinking about was my "Person of the Year." You see, if I'm naming my "Person of the Year" this year, it would be "The Friend". If I ran a magazine, I'd put "The Friend" on the front cover under the banner "Person of the Year."

I'd name "The Friend" because it has been my friends, those who stick by closer even than some relatives, who have been my support and encouragement this year. It has been "The Friend" who made this year a bit smoother, a bit more "successful" and a bit more enjoyable by calling with words of encouragement, texting words of grace, e-mailing invitations to lunch and just stopping in to say "How are you doing".

You see, this year has been one (not the only one in my life to be sure, but one) in which I've had the privilege of living out my faith and confidence in God in profound and special ways. I've had the opportunity to live what I've preached for almost 35 years, that is to trust that "God is faithful!" I've been tugged and pulled this way and that by the world, but God has been faithful, God's blessings clear, God's grace sufficient and God's power mighty. Most often, the ministry of God's grace has come through the friends and close family who have shared the journey with me. God's faithfulness has been made alive by those who have responded to God's promptings to be instruments of love and grace, of encouragement and support.

So here's to you, "Friend". You're "The Person of the Year" as far as I'm concerned. There could be no finer example of one who is making this world a little more loving and kind and the journey a little easier by living God's love in the important relationship of being a good friend.