Two of my dearest friends and I have an ongoing group text. It started after one-third of our group moved to a different town. We have hashtags that regularly make their way into conversations, laugh at things nobody else would care about, and share our daily lives this way.

It’s really the only group text I enjoy, honestly. And that’s because I know these two women deeply.

We are friends.

Kay Harms, author of “When You Find Another,” defines friends as people who speak into each others’ lives on a mutual basis. She compares different kinds of friends to different kinds of apples.

Jaclyn and Sarah are my Golden Delicious Friends, according to Harms’ definitions. (But, really, give me a Honeycrisp apple to eat any day!)

The texting sustains us until we are all back together. Then we manage to pick up where we left off, fill in the gaps, and make new memories. This is true of both the ongoing group message with Jaclyn and Sarah as well as other texting conversations I have with friends between face-to-face visits.

“The loveliest friendships of all feed our souls with the sweet and beneficial conversations they provide. They encourage us and push us forward to be all God created us to be. They comfort us and restore our souls when we feel broken, wounded or weary. They make us laugh and bring us joy. They remind us of who we are and whose we are and why we are who we are. And they give us faith and courage to keep on going.” – Kay Harms in “When You Find Another”

Friends remind us who we are
and where we belong.

{Tweet that.}

Golden Delicious Friends encourage one another – thus infuse with courage – in their dreams, but they also spur each other on in everyday life. There are more common Red Delicious Friends and tart Green Delicious Friends. All kinds of friends are nourishing for our lives.

“When You Find Another” challenges readers to consider the quality and health of their friendships and spurs them to action to cultivate meaningful relationships. And that takes courage, initiative, and responsibility.

Sarah has said Jaclyn and I made her be friends with us. And we kind of did. We kept inviting her … to church events, to our houses, into our lives, to hear our stories, and to answer our questions. After some time, she realized we were serious about this friendship thing.

About the book

Sometimes we take friendships for granted, but truly these unique relationships are treasures to be carefully cultivated. In “When You Find Another,” Author Kay Harms calls friendship “an ongoing conversation” and encourages us to consider carefully what we are speaking into each other’s lives. For this simple and sweet book, she invited other authors to join the conversation, contributing stories of friendships found, cultivated, lost and renewed. You’ll find encouragement, biblical truth and tender personal insights in this delightful book, and you’ll want to share it with a friend.

I’m thrilled to be among the contributors to this book. In preparing my story of friendship with Jaclyn, I was able to reminisce about God’s faithfulness in this one-of-a-kind relationship. I hope you enjoy a peek into our story. (It’s on page 95, if you’re curious.)

About the author

Kay Harms loves teaching women how to apply the ancient words of the Bible to their modern lives. She has written Bible studies and a devotional guide.

Kay earned a journalism degree at the University of Georgia and enjoys a freelance writing career. She also serves as a MOPS mentor mom and teaches weekly Bible studies for women at her church.

Raised in Georgia, Kay has followed her husband James to Arizona, where he tends to a local flock of believers in the beautiful high desert of Sierra Vista. James and Kay have two grown children.

*****

As a contributor, I received a free copy of this book and am part of the launch team. But these opinions are mine and I’ve actually already bought a copy of the book to gift to Jaclyn.