My Eliphaz, Bildad & Zophar

I turned to Roy and quietly but matter a fact stating, "I need them."

He got up and walked out to make the call.

Within the following 24 hours they stopped their own worlds for mine. Finding alternatives for their own children; leaving there commitments, husbands, homes; driving hundreds of miles and arriving with a Starbucks in hand....they came just to be with me. (While 1 had to remain in England, somehow, she was still here with us. She, somehow, through His grace was very much a part of our time together.)

My Girls. There really are no words to describe the friendships that exist within the four of us. It all began about 20 years ago in college. When I reflect on what Biola did for me. They are at the top of my list. Sometimes we talk many times a day. Other times it can be months. You'd even think that there would be jealousy somewhere in the mix. Nope. God has seen fit to protect us from trivial things like that. We are all so different, from different walks of life. But yet, we are so much alike. With them, I am funny...even when no one else thinks so. And they always crack me up! We 'get' one another.

When I heard that the cancer was throughout my body. In that very moment of trying to find my breathe....just thinking of them brought a sense of calmness to my soul. God has used these 3 women over and over again in my life. I could have never imagined what they were actually willing to do over the next couple of years. It immediately became the 'joke' that it was all about me. Well, they truly have made it all about me. When I really ponder all of it...them, me, our relationships.....I know I would absolutely, with a doubt, do the same for them. BUT, still, I am so unworthy. I've heard it said that if you have one good friend than you are lucky. WELL....I have four of the best and I. AM. BLESSED!!!

Just recently a friend wrote about the following verses. It's funny how along this journey I have had many compare me to a modern day Job. And here is this part that I have never read...or maybe just never noticed before. But when I read it the other night I was just instantly stopped in my tracks. Job had 3 friends. They stopped their worlds for him. They came to him just to be with him. Just as My Girls do for me.

"When Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was." ~ Job 2:11-13

To My Girls,
You are a part of me. We are a part of each other. The distance doesn't matter. Although, we would rather be together. ;) Your sacrifices on my behalf over these past couple years mean so much. Sometimes I just need to think of you to be reassured of His love for me. I do have so much to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day. But it is you 3 that stand at the forefront of my heart tonight. My world is tough right now and full of loneliness. I am so glad you are only a phone call away. Because just chatting with anyone of you makes it bearable to keep fighting the fight. I am so undeserving, but forever grateful that you are a part of my life. Thank you for being willing to come and just sit with me. You are my Eliphaz, Bildad & Zophar. (How's that for some names....you can fight it out for who's who. :)) I Love You!!!