Do You Have 3:00AM Friends?
Friends of ours own a historic cabin on the Metolius River in Camp Sherman. Last summer, we helped them with an outdoor covered porch project and an indoor rod-and-curtain-hanging endeavor. (And when I say we helped, I mean mostly it was Dan while I cheered him on.)
The couple provided lunch that day within sound of the river, within sound of their words and wisdom and laughter. Green salad, fresh cherries, cheese sticks, and homemade granola bars never tasted better.
A couple months later, we shared food truck cuisine on our way home from a white-water rafting trip with these same people. When Dan got up to find the men’s room, his buddy commented on what a good man my husband is. “I have maybe five friends I could call at 3:00am if I needed help. And Dan is one of them.”
We feel the same about this couple. There are a handful of people we could call in the middle of the night. And they’re on the list.
In her book Bittersweet, Shauna Niequist wrote about being one of four college roommates who dropped everything once every few years, and flew across the country to spend a weekend together:
“Good friendships are like eating breakfast. You think you’re too busy to eat breakfast, but then you find yourself exhausted and cranky halfway through the day and discover that your attempt to save time totally backfired. … We were made to live connected and close.”
Which coincides with this thought from Hebrews 10:24-25:
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another …”
The original Greek for the word spur can be translated as “provoke, irritation of mind.”
We have permission to provoke one another toward love and goodness.
The value of staying connected is two-way. It’s about what we can learn from our clans and tribes and life groups. And what we can teach them. It’s about provoking them toward love and deliberate acts of kindness. And being provoked in return. About how we can serve them better. And how we can humble ourselves to accept their love and service.
Everyone needs 3:00am friends.
