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 Pastor's Page Pastor John L. Bechtel  In his One Minute Uplift newsletter, Rick Ezell shares this: "A friend comes alongside the hurting individual to offer support and encouragement. They help the struggler by assisting and comforting. They lighten their load of burden and pain. They bring refreshment like an ice-cold glass of water on a scorching hot day. They remind the wounded of hope and of God. "In the movie The Color Purple, the character Sophie spends several years unjustly incarcerated for a minor offense. When she is released from prison, she is a broken woman who can barely function. Sophie's mistress casually hands her a shopping list to fill. The lead character, Celie, a woman who has endured great pain, sees Sophie staring at the grocery shelves and understands her vulnerability. She protects Sophie by quietly filling the grocery order for her. "Months later, when Sophie begins to awaken from her deep trouble, she says, 'I want to thank you, Miss Celie, for everything you done for me. I remember that day in the store--I was feeling really down--I was feeling mighty bad; and when I sees you, I knows there is a God; I knows there is a God...and one day I was going to get to go home.’ "That is the kind of refreshing friend I want to be to the hurting people in my world." If we were loving and lovable - I bet there would be a hundredfold increase in God's kingdom because of it!
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