Celebrating Friendship
Authors: Sue Jones and Lynn Winters
Lynn Winters and Sue Jones have been best friends for over 20 years. Sue is a pastor’s wife, mother and grandmother. She lives in Tulare, CA with her husband Rich and three dogs. She has two married children so that makes four adult children and one brand new baby granddaughter. Sue has been involved in children’s ministry for over 25 years and holds children’s ministry as one her most important acts of service to the Lord. Sue also home schooled both her children through high school. Their church will soon complete their brand new building which started as a church plant in Tulare, CA in 1993. Lynn Winters lives in Benicia, CA with her husband Roger and has two grown children so four adult children and three grandchildren. children and has also been involved in children’s ministry through Pioneer Clubs and AWANA Ministry. She also has a love for children and most recently had both her grandchildren in AWANA with her which was such a wonderful journey for all of them. Both Lynn and Sue would have to say that becoming a grandparent has been life changing and such an awesome reward from our Heavenly Father! They both look forward to how much they still have the opportunity to impact the children around us.
Answered prayer is the reason why we, Lynn Winters and Sue Jones, have spent the last 22 years as the “best of friends“. We were both young moms with young children in a new community. We both were praying for a good friend and God saw to it that we became more than friends; we became sisters and soul supporters. We both agree that the most awesome part of our friendship is that our children continue to be the “best of friends.” With the recent birth of Sue’s granddaughter, Preslie Grace (6/19/09), we are now praying that our grandchildren will grow to become the “best of friends”. If so privileged by God, that would make three generations of an amazing friendship.
The legacy of our friendship and our children’s friendship is based on a very simple but powerful premise: praying Scripture. After God answered our initial prayer for a good friend, we committed to pray for one another and our children specific scriptural passages. We prayed for every area of their lives that we could think of and we recorded those scriptural prayers in journals and marked them in our bibles. As our knowledge of God’s Word deepened, the arena of prayer for our children increased. What a source of encouragement it is to look back through our journals and bibles and see God’s grace in answering those prayers.
Supplementing our prayer times, we resolved to spend time together as families. Exceeding our initial prayer request for God to bring a good friend into our lives, God orchestrated our families becoming friends. This resulted in our desire to spend time together which we did through eating together, playing together, countless sleepovers , birthday’s and holidays and vacationing together. All that brought us personal joy as moms and friends and contributed to us ministering together in the children’s ministry in our church.
Our children seldom bickered with one another but when they did, it became another opportunity for us to teach and train them about how God would want them to respond in that situation and the need to rely upon Him. One of our deepest desires was for them to understand how important friendships are to God so that they would love and care for their friends much like we cared for and loved one another.
We did see that kind of love demonstrated early on in their friendships. We continue to see that kind of deep lasting love in their friendships to this day. Each of our children stood up for one another on one of the most important days of their lives; their wedding day. They have all shared in some special way in the birth of four grand-children (with hopefully more of those to come). They continue to talk/email and visit with one another as often as they can even though they are separated by as many as two thousand miles.
Our friendship is unique to us and not all of it has been wonderful. We have experienced our share of hurts and disappointments yet in the midst of those times God gave us exactly what we needed in each other. He gave the words when words were needed and a quiet spirit when listening ears were what was needed. He continues to supply us with His grace and mercy in our ongoing journey together. We have discovered, and now rejoice in the truth, that we serve a personal God who takes an interest in ordinary people.
We would encourage each of you to pray for a legacy of good friendships and for friends that would spur you on toward love and good deeds.
(John 15:12) My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends
Next week's author: Tyler Robbins
Lynn Winters and Sue Jones have been best friends for over 20 years. Sue is a pastor’s wife, mother and grandmother. She lives in Tulare, CA with her husband Rich and three dogs. She has two married children so that makes four adult children and one brand new baby granddaughter. Sue has been involved in children’s ministry for over 25 years and holds children’s ministry as one her most important acts of service to the Lord. Sue also home schooled both her children through high school. Their church will soon complete their brand new building which started as a church plant in Tulare, CA in 1993. Lynn Winters lives in Benicia, CA with her husband Roger and has two grown children so four adult children and three grandchildren. children and has also been involved in children’s ministry through Pioneer Clubs and AWANA Ministry. She also has a love for children and most recently had both her grandchildren in AWANA with her which was such a wonderful journey for all of them. Both Lynn and Sue would have to say that becoming a grandparent has been life changing and such an awesome reward from our Heavenly Father! They both look forward to how much they still have the opportunity to impact the children around us.
Answered prayer is the reason why we, Lynn Winters and Sue Jones, have spent the last 22 years as the “best of friends“. We were both young moms with young children in a new community. We both were praying for a good friend and God saw to it that we became more than friends; we became sisters and soul supporters. We both agree that the most awesome part of our friendship is that our children continue to be the “best of friends.” With the recent birth of Sue’s granddaughter, Preslie Grace (6/19/09), we are now praying that our grandchildren will grow to become the “best of friends”. If so privileged by God, that would make three generations of an amazing friendship.
The legacy of our friendship and our children’s friendship is based on a very simple but powerful premise: praying Scripture. After God answered our initial prayer for a good friend, we committed to pray for one another and our children specific scriptural passages. We prayed for every area of their lives that we could think of and we recorded those scriptural prayers in journals and marked them in our bibles. As our knowledge of God’s Word deepened, the arena of prayer for our children increased. What a source of encouragement it is to look back through our journals and bibles and see God’s grace in answering those prayers.
Supplementing our prayer times, we resolved to spend time together as families. Exceeding our initial prayer request for God to bring a good friend into our lives, God orchestrated our families becoming friends. This resulted in our desire to spend time together which we did through eating together, playing together, countless sleepovers , birthday’s and holidays and vacationing together. All that brought us personal joy as moms and friends and contributed to us ministering together in the children’s ministry in our church.
Our children seldom bickered with one another but when they did, it became another opportunity for us to teach and train them about how God would want them to respond in that situation and the need to rely upon Him. One of our deepest desires was for them to understand how important friendships are to God so that they would love and care for their friends much like we cared for and loved one another.
We did see that kind of love demonstrated early on in their friendships. We continue to see that kind of deep lasting love in their friendships to this day. Each of our children stood up for one another on one of the most important days of their lives; their wedding day. They have all shared in some special way in the birth of four grand-children (with hopefully more of those to come). They continue to talk/email and visit with one another as often as they can even though they are separated by as many as two thousand miles.
Our friendship is unique to us and not all of it has been wonderful. We have experienced our share of hurts and disappointments yet in the midst of those times God gave us exactly what we needed in each other. He gave the words when words were needed and a quiet spirit when listening ears were what was needed. He continues to supply us with His grace and mercy in our ongoing journey together. We have discovered, and now rejoice in the truth, that we serve a personal God who takes an interest in ordinary people.
We would encourage each of you to pray for a legacy of good friendships and for friends that would spur you on toward love and good deeds.
(John 15:12) My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends
Next week's author: Tyler Robbins
posted by Passionate Purposeful Parenting @ 12:00 AM
2 Comments:
What a tremendous blessing to have such a wonderful friendship that has carried down to your children as well. I, too, so appreciate the godly friends in my life who love, support and pray for my children.
I love this post. What a beautiful story! I would love to have that kind of deep friendship with a friend. And Lynn, thank you for all you did at Cubbies. Katie adored you and she loved learning her verses and going to Cubbies.
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