There’s nothing like a good friend — or two — to keep you humble.
The best of friends celebrate your successes when they are nothing more than dreams. These friends cheer you on, assuring you that you can do it, you will do it — whatever “it” is you’re pursuing.
The best of friends tell you it’s okay to cry when a dream crumbles at your feet. They even shed a few tears with you. And offer Kleenex. And a shoulder to sob on. And ice cream. And then they help you gather the bits and pieces of your dream and figure out what’s worth rescuing and what needs to be released.
The best of friends will stick their foot out and trip you so that you fall flat on your face when you think you’re “all that and a pair of Jimmy Choos.” And they’ll laugh — and somehow get you to laugh too, reminding you that hey, you borrowed those high heels from them!
In Your Words: When has a a friend celebrated with you? Cried with you? And when has a friend known it was time to take you down because, well, your view of yourself was a bit self-inflated?
Humility: Friendship & deflating egos Click to Tweet
How friends keep us humble Click to Tweet
Read the first chapter of Catch a Falling Star by Beth K. Vogt! Click to Tweet
Comments 22
This is so poignant because I’m about to head to a goodbye brunch for one of my dear friends. She’s moving. And she has a been a rock by my side (especially during a particularly hard season in my life).
I love my trusted buddies.
Author
Wendy:
Saying goodbye to a trusted friend is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do. It creates an ache in the heart that is hard to fill.
Sending you a hug today, friend.
OH yay for girlfriends. I love my girlfriends…and you post actually made me think of my sisters and Mom, too, who I can honestly say are some of my best friends. And they’re the ones that rock at tugging me back down when I might get a little too big for my britches. 🙂
Author
Friends are the best for so many reasons, Melissa … and sometimes family can also be friends.
When I was teaching at a university, I made the truest, and what I thought then the most unlikely friend – a student.
I was fairly cynical about some aspects of the job, and never expected to be liked or remembered. “Goodbye Mr. Chips” had never been part of my reading list.
However, I was wrong.
One of my students, who routinely played computer games in the back row of several classes while I lectured, has become the closest friend we could ever wish, both to me and my wife. I literally don’t know what I would do without his friendship; recently my wife had to go to Indiana to care for her parents, and he came to our house – to care for me.
On a holiday weekend, and he has a wife and child.
There are not enough words in the language to describe how lucky I feel, and much I hope I am a good friend in return.
Author
Sometimes friends come from the most unlikely places, Andrew. Thank you for sharing this story.
Hi Beth! Loved this post and the picture included!
The only best friend that has stuck by my side long enough to still be called my best friend (besides God, of course) is my sister, and I’m so grateful for her. Sure, there are times we don’t see eye to eye, but we’re allowed to have differing opinions. We encourage each other mostly, and yes, sometimes we tactfully say, “Something’s got to give.” The best thing is, we’ve got a cool relationship for keeps that we’ll be able to pass down to our kids by example.
Blessings,
Andrea
Author
I’ve prayed for my children to both be each others’ friends — and to find life-long friends, Andrea.
That is so sweet, Beth. I think praying for our kids is the most important thing we can do. I don’t even have kids yet, and I’m praying for them.
When I was little, my family lived out in the country with no kids my sis’ and my ages. We lived there for five years and were taught to get along and work problems and disagreements out. God used that time to bond us into best friends. Isn’t our God grand? He’s so smart!
I am blessed to have so many good friends, both other writers and those who don’t write. I can tell my best friends anything, really, and they do exactly what you described. They speak truth when I need to hear it and just let me talk when that’s what I need.
Author
When I count my blessings, I count my husband and children and quickly move to my friends … I am richly blessed.
Where do I start?
How about my BFF Amy (also my sister) who has lovingly put me in check more than once and ALWAYS pushes me to pursue my dreams. When we were younger, I never imagined having a friend in my sister, but thankfully she is one of my closest!
Then there’s my mom! 😉 I see you as one of these friends too! You speak truth to me on a daily basis and love me no matter what. Thank you for showing me what a good friend is. I have watched you with your friends from a young age and I try to model my friendships after yours.
Or what about all of my bridesmaids who at different points in life have scraped me off the floor and told me, “You CAN do it”, “You ARE worth it” and “I love you just the way YOU are.” These friends are the ones who can speak truth into my life and I’ll listen. They can tell me to snap out of it and usually I will.
Thanks for this post! It’s a GREAT Monday post!
Author
And now you made your mom cry …
LOVE that quote – and the post. So so so true:) My BFF has no problem tripping me when needed, and she’s my biggest cheerleader–always has been. I’m blessed to have a few friends who do this for me. I’ve discovered those are the friends God’s dropped into my life in unexpected ways. Love how He does that!
Author
Susan: The stories of friendships are often the best, aren’t they?
I have so many good friends, and they are all still celebrating my contract with Revell! And some of them are writers who are waiting for the call, and that’s hard sometimes. But the mark of true friends.
Author
Friends now how to both celebrate and commiserate!
Well, let’s see. I have one great friend who happy dances for me and with me over the phone when good things happen. She’s even put a pic on Facebook before. Even when her back hurts. That’s a true friend. 🙂
Seriously though, you’ve taught me the art of celebrating others. I have friends who have cried with me, spoken truth into my heart when it needed to hear it—both comforting and difficult truths—in a gentle way.
Loved reading about you and your BFF’s! 🙂
Author
Oh, I have multitudes of BFFs … as I told my girls, there’s no limit on them. 😉
Friends are so very vital to living life to the full. They complete my “missing parts” on so many levels. One teaches me to be more gentle, another to be more organized, another to love Jesus more recklessly. Thanks for this glimpse into your BFFs and allowing me to remember to thank God for mine.
Author
I love what you said, Donna, how our friends complete us … You are so wise.
What a fun post! And isn’t it funny that a good friend can say the same thing as someone else, but I listen because of who’s saying it and because I know they care? I remember years ago a friend confronting me about my behavior. By the end of our conversation, I decided I would never speak to her again. That was, until I got home and called her bawling. 🙂 She was so right and I was so lucky to have her in my life.