Buddy Breathing

[bluidkiti]

Buddy Breathing

Sharon Jaynes

Today’s Truth

“All Scripture is God-breathed…”2 Timothy 2:16 NIV

Friend to Friend

When I was in my teens, I went scuba diving with some friends. I had no training and probably shouldn’t have been in deep waters, but like I said, I was in my teens and threw caution to the wind. The young man who took me below the surface of the deep strapped an oxygen tank on his back, a mask of his face and flippers on his feet. I only had a mask and flippers.
“Where’s my oxygen?” I asked.
“I’ve got it,” he answered as he patted the tank on his back.
So into the ocean we jumped. He put his arm around my waist like I was a sack of potatoes and down we went. John drew oxygen from the tank and then passed the breathing apparatus to me. We took turns breathing in the oxygen in what he called “buddy breathing.” It then occurred to me that I was totally dependent on this young boy to keep me alive!
This was not a very smart idea, but it did leave me with a great life lesson…”Buddy Breathing.” Throughout my life, the words of my friends have been like oxygen when I feel I’m drowning. Even today, I have a mental scrapbook of the life-giving words passed along to me in the ocean of despair. God has sent friends my way who have strapped on the Word of God and passed the life-giving words to me when I’ve needed them most. Buddy breathing. That’s what we can do for each other when a girlfriend forgets how to draw in the air she needs. That’s what God does for us each time we open the pages of His Word.
When I was in high school, I traveled abroad to study with a group of students. Before I left, my group of Christian girlfriends gave me a gift. They had taken a large medicine bottle and filled it with a homemade remedy. Inside the medicine bottle were 100 Bible verses written on small strips of paper and rolled up like tiny scrolls. These verses were my medicine for when I got homesick. That gift of the heart was given to me over 30 years ago, and yet, I’ve carried it with me through high school, college, marriage and many, many moves. I have kept that bottle of love with me at each crossroad and bend in the road. That’s the power of a woman’s words to her friends. We never know how a small act of kindness will touch someone’s heart for many years to come.
Let’s Pray
Dear LORD, thank You for friends who help me breathe when I forget how. And please help me to be sensitive to my friends and recognize when they need a bit of encouragement along the way. Most of all, thank You for Your Word that breathes life into my soul everyday. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Now It’s Your Turn
Can you think of a friend that helped you during a very difficult time of life?
Today, consider writing her a note of thanks, telling her specifically how she helped you.
Be on the lookout today for someone who needs a word of encouragement, especially a word from God’s Word that will help them along their journey. It might even be a friend who would enjoy Girlfriend in God devotions!