Soul-filled Sunday ~ What A Friend ~ 8/30/2026

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How do you define the word "friend"?  Do you have a circle of friends or do you consider yourself as having a best friend?  Do you feel "the more the merrier" or "two is company; three is a crowd" best describes your attitude?

Jesus calls us HIS friends and laid down His life for each one of us:

John 15:12-15 (NASB)

12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Abraham was a friend of God.  Can you (or I) be called a friend of God?

James 2:23 (NASB)

23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.

I'm going to be studying through The Daily Grace Co.'s book "I Need Thee Every Hour: Hymns That Bring You Closer to Christ" and want you MY FRIENDS to come along for the journey.

In case you haven't figured out what song we're going to be looking at first, it is:

"What A Friend We Have in Jesus"

 by Joseph M Scriven c. 1855.

1. What a friend we have in Jesus,
   All our sins and griefs to bear!
   What a privilege to carry
   Everything to God in prayer!
   Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
   Oh, what needless pain we bear,
   All because we do not carry
   Everything to God in prayer!
2. Have we trials and temptations?
   Is there trouble anywhere?
   We should never be discouraged—
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
   Can we find a friend so faithful,
   Who will all our sorrows share?
   Jesus knows our every weakness;
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
3. Are we weak and heavy-laden,
   Cumbered with a load of care?
   Precious Savior, still our refuge—
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
   Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
   Take it to the Lord in prayer!
   In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
   Thou wilt find a solace there.

I'd like us to read each verse and really ponder each phrase.

The book goes into the back story of the writing of the song, but I'd like to focus on the words that were written.

Verse 1:  Do we consider it a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer or do we see it as a right and take advantage?  Do we find our peace in God or do we forfeit our peace and bear the pain needlessly?

Verse 2:  We all have trials, temptations and troubles.  Don't be discouraged!  Jesus knows our weakness and sorrows.

Verse 3:  Weak and heavy laden?  He will give us rest from our burdens.

Now, think back to your original definition of "friend".  Has your definition changed at all?

The book has a REFLECTION at the end of each song's devotional.  This song's REFLECTION is:

What are some ways that this Hymn points your heart and mind to worshiping God?

I hope this Soul-filled Sunday post has \made you think and ponder on your relationship with the LORD.

Please share your thoughts in the comments, and let's be FRIENDS :)

Prayer Requests

~Consistency with this study and sharing it with you.

~Health and safety for loved ones, mine and yours.

~Safety for those heading or have already started back to school.  

For Your Listening Pleasure

Blessings,

Colletta

Cooper's Rock State Forest and Overlook ~ 8/27/2026

Hello, dear friends!

I bet you thought I dropped off the face of the earth.  I didn't but it HAS been 1 week shy of me not posting here in this space for an entire year!  At one point in my life that would have seemed entirely impossible.  Yet here I am.

So much has happened in the past year.  Some very good.  And some very bad, sad and generally upsetting.  I want to keep this post light-hearted though so I'll have to get into all of that later on.

As for now, I wanted to jump back into blogging and get my feet wet once again.  So I'm going to tell you about our trip to Cooper's Rock State Forest and the Overlook.

Cooper's Rock State Forest is located in West Virginia about 1.5 hours from our home.  I had driven on the interstate and seen the signs for the Scenic Overlook many times but we had never taken the time to stop.

After dropping Laken off for her Sophomore year of University and getting her settled into her FIRST EVER apartment, we decided to find the overlook.  It was breathtaking!

Now, I don't mind heights, but I'm not going to go leaning on those rails either!  There was a young man that actually stood on top the railing with his arms out to the side for a photo op.  Not I...  Was he brave or just naive?  Maybe.  But at any rate, I breathed a sigh of relief when he hopped back down onto "solid" ground.

The day was perfectly beautiful.  The sky and clouds declared the glory of God and reminded me what a wonderful world He has created for us to enjoy.

As I look around at the Overlook structures, I couldn't help but think and wonder how long it had been there and about the brave souls who built it.  Every bit of it was beautiful, even the uneven rock path we had to traverse to get there.  (Next time I'll wear better shoes, right Laken???)

The "Three Wooden Crosses" picture is one that I took the day before we explored Cooper's Rock but it is in the same area.  I don't know what the story is behind those crosses exactly but I guess it doesn't really matter as long as I remember the original "Three Wooden Crosses" and especially the "Man on the Middle Cross".

If you're still here after all this time of me being away from Blogland and after my jabbering in this post, I thank you!  I appreciate you!  I hope you'll continue to stick around.

Drop me a comment and let me know where you're visiting from and I'll return the favor.  Or just comment that you're still here.  Either way :

Blessings,

Colletta