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Has your summer included time spent on your boat, your friend’s boat, or on a small row boat that you rode when you were invited to a birthday party?!
Being outdoors enjoying the summer sun is one of the things that makes the summer the summer. Another thing that happens a lot during the summer is birthday parties!
My kids and I were invited to a very special party just recently at a place called Paradise in Picayune. Prior to this, I had never been there before, but it was so much fun! It’s a hidden gem!
It’s like your own private beach complete with a sandy shore, outdoor covered seating (that feels like you’re on an island), and summer fun activities like building sandcastles, kayaks, and row boats!
My kids had never kayaked or paddled in a row boat before so I was so proud to see them trying something new and figuring it out!
At first, my 8 year old daughter didn’t realize that you have to paddle alternately from one side then the other. She was paddling just on one side so her kayak was going in circles! She finally got it though!
I, on the other hand, jumped in the row boat (which is kind of like a kayak, but it’s larger to hold more people) and was trying to row to the end of the lake where there is a water spout.
My daughter was going to hop in with me then bailed (because she wanted to play with her friends) so I was all alone in the big row boat.
The boat was way too big to paddle by myself. My friend Amanda noticed, jumped in, and said “I’ll get in with you and we can paddle together!”
She and I had to coordinate our paddles in order to row correctly! (She knows way more about it than I do so she told me how to do it!)
We made it to the water spout, and by that time, we were really hot and the waterfall splashing on our heads felt amazing! After that, Amanda and I were in sync with our paddling and made our way back to the shore successfully.
JoJo, what’s the point of your birthday party story?
You CAN’T go anywhere in this boat we call life without the help of others. You and I aren’t meant to go through things alone.
If you try to paddle alone, you’ll just end up going in circles frustrated.
If you want to get to the destination ahead, you need the help of your friends and family to get there.
Maybe you’ve had a hard time making or keeping friends. Adult friendships can be a challenging thing since you have a busy schedule with your kids and family.
Gone are the days of just handing someone a “best friend forever” necklace or bracelet, and yall becoming instant friends!
Every time I’ve ever prayed for God to send me a friend, (in the city I was living in, at the job I was at, or at the church I was attending) He’s never failed to do so.
Maybe you’ve been burned by friendships, and you are hesitant to be vulnerable again. I get it. I’ve been there.
Get back in the boat.
You know that saying: “It’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.”?
Don’t let the failure of one friendship keep you from potentially meeting someone who God designed to help you along the way and vice versa.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.”
Reach out to that dance mom. Text that church friend. Call the mom of your child’s best friend from school.
That person could very well be the friend that sticks closer to you than a brother.
Proverbs 18:24-
“A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”