20 Amazing Quotes for Friends in a Pandemic

Besties. BFF’s. Life-long friends. 

Friend is such a wonderful and endearing term.

The good Lord created us as relational beings, first with Him, then with others. So it makes sense to not only understand the importance of friends in our lives, but to also celebrate friendship.

But what does true friendship look like? How does it play a practical role in our lives? 

And how do we keep our friendships alive during this present pandemic? Because things have changed during COVID-19.

Such as those intimate, fun and face-to-face outings, chats, lunch dates, meetings at our favorite coffee shop, and a whole list of friend-things most of us are missing these days.

Or, we show up sporting a face mask and wonder if our get-togethers will ever look normal again.

So I put together a list of some pretty amazing quotes on friendship. While the way we spend time with friends may look different right now, the heart of friendship remains the same and keeps us connected.

As you read through these great quotes, think about creative ways to reach out to friends. Like texts, emails, calls, FaceTime, MarcoPolo App, cards, record an audio message to send by text (even a prayer), Snapchat a fun photo or video, or drop off their favorite sweet or a gift and leave on the porch giving them the heads up.

Amazing Friendship Quotes

(1.) “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” ― C.S. Lewis

(2.) “Real spiritual friendship is eagerly helping one another know, serve, love, and resemble God in deeper and deeper ways.” ― Timothy Keller

(3.) “I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.” ― Helen Keller

(4.) “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” ― Walter Winchell

Positively Finding Your Joy by Yvette Walker

Welcome our guest writer, Yvette. I’m honored to have met this godly, beautiful lady online. We recently chatted when she invited me on her podcast, Positively Joy. And my episode goes live this morning. I know her words about joy will inspire you.

By Yvette Walker

During this unique season, I have been working from home instead of in my office at college. Every day I get up, make the bed, feed my four-footed kids (two cats, one dog) and come into the dining room.

And I don’t know why, but the dining table has been my makeshift desktop since March 16. Because I have a perfectly good study, but the dining room seems warmer, more inviting. I open my laptop, log on and begin the day. I’m a bit of a homebody, so I’m loving the arrangement, even though I’m an extrovert and miss the company of my coworkers and students. 

Something had been on my mind for a while, and that was to start a podcast. I wanted it to be about beauty standards, how we dress and style ourselves and how sometimes America does not approve. It was to be called Hair Goddess, after a book I’d published a a few years ago.

Positively Talk About Joy

But God said, “No, you are to talk about JOY.”

Uh, OK, Lord, I’m listening.

And so, Positively Joy was born. In the middle of a pandemic, at home, in my dining room. I knew just enough audio editing software to be dangerous, and I knew enough people who would talk to me. 

It has been a delight to my soul, and, I hope, a fun listening exercise to my followers.

15 Scriptures to Pray Over Family and Ourselves

Try this at home. Here’s one feat I encourage every believer to try; insert the names of loved ones and your name into Scriptures.

Then, pray the Bible verses and see what happens.

Oh, I get excited thinking about what God’s up to; how He’s working behind the scenes.

But there’s working power we unleash in prayer when we speak truth and life from God’s Word.

Recently, I shared The Prayer I Prayed Over 5000 Times. It’s my story of when I met Christ at sixteen and started praying for my dad, an atheist.

Prayers for him to believe in the heavenly Father. And God answered my prayers sixteen years later when my dad gave his life to the Lord.

The Power of Praying Scriptures

Still, I struggled to believe my dad would ever become a Christ-follower.

Needing help with my own unbelief, I inserted my dad’s name into salvation Scriptures I prayed back to God. And loud enough for the enemy to know I was serious.

I believe it played a part in my dad’s salvation.

Also, praying the Bible acquaints us with the Scriptures, hides it in our hearts and reminds us of God’s promises.

I’m sharing 15 Scriptures I’ve personalized and prayed for family members or for myself. However, keep in mind the wealth of Bible topics available at our disposal.

Examples include: salvation, freedom from something, addictions, fear, healing, spiritual growth, strength, faith, trust, love, forgiveness, bondage, sin, wisdom, wayward souls, children and depression.

Simply research Bible verses that address your needs or those of family members.

Inserting Names into Scriptures 

How to Find Comfort in an Uncomfortable World

Comfort. 

Maybe comfort’s not overrated.

Or blown out of proportion…at least in the spiritual sense.

But most of us find ourselves in an uncomfortable state. 

Because we live in a world turned topsy-turvy. And we all took a crash course we never signed up for on how to manage current life. 

Life as we know it is now uncertain and unstable.

For many of us, the uncertainty robs our joy, while fear and worry creep in. Sometimes even supercharged panic pays us a visit.

There are ways to find comfort in uncertain times and uncomfortable places.

1. Limit the media we consume.

Staying intentional about what I’m feeding my mind helps me cope with stressful circumstances.

So I limit my intake of news media and social media in what and how much. Although we sometimes hear or read heroic and positive stories, media often focuses on the negative, debates political or social issues, and leaves us in a worse mental perspective than before.

While I am not advocating to pretend real facts don’t exist, I am saying to pay close attention to the source. Since the source—articles, videos, social media posts and people—may not be credible and often present conflicting or false statements. 

And evaluate the amount of media we consume. Consuming too much media and the wrong kind of media fuels worry, fear and “what-ifs.”

Instead, I focus on reading God’s Word—the source of truth, comfort, peace and real hope.

“This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.” (Psalm 119:50 NASB)

The Prayer I Prayed Over 5000 Times

Wow! and Praise Jesus! resounded in my soul. And I rejoiced. I cried happy tears over a long-awaited answer to a prayer I prayed over 5,000 times. Yes, you read that right—no typos or extra zeros.

You see, when my twin sister and I were little, our father disappeared from our life. My mom and stepfather took us to church, but we didn’t understand much about God or prayer. 

Along about fourth grade, my dad reappeared and wanted to be a part of my life again. I’ll never forget what he told me at nine-years-old, “People think there’s a God, but there’s not.”

Not understanding it at the time, I knew later my dad was an atheist. This confused my young heart, wondering, Is God real and does He love me? Yet, I was in church and Sunday school each week hearing about the God of the Bible.

Praying When Faith Wanes

Then something wonderful happened. At sixteen, both me and my sister prayed to receive Jesus Christ as Savior at a church revival. Sixteen turned out to be sweet after all.

That night as I crawled into bed, I decided to pray daily for my father to believe in God and accept Christ. Even though I was a young Christian, I missed very few days praying for my dad. 

Finding Comfort in the Names of God

Our community is blessed this week with guest blogger, Mandy Farmer. She’s a woman of God who I’ve had the joy to interact with online. Do you need comfort in pain? Maybe you’re familiar with physical or emotional pain or both. In this post, Mandy not only reminds us who God is, but also how the names of God bring us comfort.

By Mandy Farmer

We have all experienced pain in one form or another. There are moments of pain in my life where I still cringe when I think about it—stepping on a nail in my bare feet. Eek! That one hurt just typing it right now.

I’m approaching nine years of chronic pain. It never gets easier. But there are other types of pain that may hurt even more deeply, crushing our heart and soul. Truly, the one thing I have found for all my pain is focusing on Christ.

I recently thought about the many names of God. Have you ever wondered, “Why so many names?”

I have come to realize that it is to show us God is whatever we need Him to be whenever we need it. In different times of our lives, we need God to show Himself to us in different ways. It is at these times that we may find comfort in a new Name of God at just the right time and in just the right way.

So let’s take a look at some of the names of God and how they brought me comfort.

Abba Father and Jesus, Lover of my Soul

In my elementary years, I was the short fat girl who no one wanted to choose for their team. My earthly father,  proved to me through example that I had my Abba Father who loved me, called me His own, and chose me to be His Child.

Truly Free on a Day of Deliverance

In America, we are remembering and celebrating liberty as a country. But I always like to celebrate how I’m spiritually free in Jesus Christ, too.

So when I read a letter John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, about Independence Day in 1776, I found this interesting.

“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” (Wikipedia, emphasis added)

Like Adams, many of our founding fathers looked to God for “the day of deliverance.” Likewise, we looked to God for our spiritual day of deliverance. 

Jesus’ blood spilled on Calvary’s cross to set real freedom in motion. Truly a day of delieverance.

But it never stopped at the cross. Jesus rose from the dead securing our freedom for all time.

My day of deliverance happened at sixteen-years-old; the Lord delivered me from sin and spiritual death giving me eternal life—something worth remembering and celebrating. Accepting grace became my first act of devotion to God Almighty.

America’s founding fathers commemorated freedom as the day of deliverance: Independence Day. Our heavenly Father commemorated spiritual freedom as the day of deliverance: Resurrection Day. 

Therefore, here’s a list of 20 Bible verses to help us remember and celebrate.

Free in Jesus Christ

(1.)  “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind.” (Isaiah 61:1, TLB)

8 Scriptural Ways to Pursue Humility

Hey humility, come out, come out wherever you are!

Last month, I shared 7 Biblical Promises for Walking in Humility. Then my blogger friend, Mandy Farmer, invited me to write a guest post on how Christians pursue humility as a spiritual discipline.

Since we already discussed the biblical promises we receive for walking in humility, let’s discuss how we actually pursue it.

Because humility seems missing from our present culture. But this lack isn’t anything new.

People, even God’s people, have always had a bent toward self-centeredness and boasting.

And learning to pursue humility is a needed spiritual discipline for a Christ-follower.

So here are 3 of the 8 ways to pursue H-U-M-I-L-I-T-Y.

H – Honor God.

Pursuing humility starts with honoring God by letting Him be God and do His job—not taking over.

But we have a choice to let Him act as CEO of our plans and purpose. We ask ourselves: God is CEO, am I in His seat? If I am, it means I’ve exchanged honoring God for honoring myself.

Because when we take the reins, God doesn’t reign as Lord.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:10, ESV)

U – Understand humanity.

Once we realize who God is, we come to terms with our own flesh. Created in God’s image, He wired us for humility, but we learn life’s about me.

6 Tips to Practice Summer Soul Care

Summer invites us to linger longer on the front porch or back deck. A glass of iced tea or lemonade and we’re all set. Summertime welcomes us to pause from the hectic pace. It beckons us to relax by the pool or in a cozy hammock. But are we practicing soul care? 

Because we are often intentional to care for our bodies in summer.

And we participate in outdoor activities (even exercise), gather with friends and family, foster recreation, and plan time off work to travel and go on vacation.

Yet, sometimes caring for our soul falls off the radar.

Still, in this slower rhythm of summer, the Lord also desires to teach us how to care for our soul.

So here are 6 tips for S.U.M.M.E.R soul care.

S – Satisfy our soul with what only God provides.

“For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things” (Psalm 107:9, ESV).

“For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish” (Jeremiah 31:25, ESV).

Like we long to vacation at the beach, hope to relax at a tropical resort, or desire to fill our summer with joyful activities, our soul longs for good things as well. The Lord wants us to slow down long enough to spend time in His presence. And let Him satisfy, fill, and replenish our soul with His goodness.

U – Understand the role Scripture plays in our soul’s wellness.

Top 10 List: What I Cherish About Summer

While every season offers holidays to celebrate, nature to enjoy, and highlights that mark the months, summer’s the time of year I cherish most.

Because there are many things to love about summer.

Since enjoying this wonderful season is under way, a top 10 list seems in order to share.

But we’ll start at number ten and countdown to the number one thing I cherish most.

(10.)  Reminiscing of childhood.

Reflecting on my childhood stirs a mix of memories, both good and difficult. Yet, when I think of summer, I remember fun and laughter and joy-filled moments. Memory lane reminds me of playing outside with my sisters and cousins. 

Preteen and teen years meant days spent at the local swimming pool and the first time I jumped off the high dive. So I cherish fond memories of summer.

(9.)  Catching lightning bugs.