Today God has repeatedly called my heart to the theme of friendship. Today is the day my best friend and I celebrate our friendship. Through this rainy day God showed me what friendship really means and what type of friend I need to always be. 

The scripture we read was Mark 2:1-12 and there are many lessons that can be learned from this but what God showed me today was a powerful example of a friendship that was faithful, enduring, and loving. Our group was in Quitzran at a reconstructed example of what a biblical home would look like. With 67or so of us we all crammed into this tiny home filling every space possible and we still barely all fit inside. As I sat on a small corner of the kitchen table,It was easy for me to imagine that even 20 or 30 more people would have made it impossible to even see through the open door. 

Looking up at the well constructed roof, my previous assumption that these friends only had to move a few bundles of straw to open a hole in the roof was corrected. These friends had to dig through layers of well packed wood, straw, and dirt. And the lesson I take from this is to always do whatever it takes to bring my friends closer to Jesus. I've learned that if there is ever a time my friend is in need of Jesus I may not be able to carry them through the door I may have to get dirt under my fingernails and dig down through something that seems too tough to break through. But that my love for them is what will help me endure and bring them to the healing love and forgiveness of Jesus. 

After we left this house we all walked to a small reconstruction of a biblical bakery.  We all sat at long tables learning how to make pita. Once the pita dough had been baked, we sat and broke bread together (well pita to be exact).  I dipped my pita in the rich homemade goat cheese and the sweet Israeli apricot jam. The combination of the warm pita help fight away the chill of the rain, the sweet jam filling me with energy and the rich goat cheese filling my heart with joy and my friends sitting around me made this meal so beautiful. Although it wasn't a meal by any means this moment of breaking bread with those I love has been my favorite meal so far.