How often are our emotions masked behind “I’m fine,” “she’s fine,” “we’re all FINE,” or just plain old “good,” when asked, “how are you doing?”

They don’t REALLY want to know, do they?

I don’t really WANT them to know, do I?

I don’t want them to know that my house isn’t clean, my clothes aren’t folded. I don’t want them to know that the kids didn’t get a bath last night or that they had peanut butter sandwiches…again. I don’t want them to know that we fought about shoes and what radio station to listen to on the way to church. I get grouchy, the husband gets grouchy, the kids get grouchy and sometimes, we are just plain old ugly to one another…

Don’t let anyone know.

I pray that in our lives, we all have a least one person that we can rely on to love us “behind the mask.” You know, that one friend that can look at our scars and say, “I love you anyway.”

We need one friend that will honestly tell us when something is just not right, but will dust us off and say, “it’s okay…you will do better next time.”

Do you have that friend that you can call, no matter what, say, “I just need an ear,” and she says, “what have you got for me?”

How about one that knows that we may not always get dressed or brush our teeth, our floors may be crunchy and not swept, our toilets unscrubbed. We may rarely be able to join on outings, but they keep inviting anyway.

This friend, she always has her door open and her phone on. This may also be the one that will come to you, rinse out a coffee cup, and sit and chat away. Hey, sometimes she brings her own cups, the Kool-Aid, and muffins.

I have these friends in my life…and they are true blessings. I hope that they know that I love them. I love their good, bad, and ugly because friend…I’m probably going to show you mine.

Do you have a friend like this in your life? Let them know they are loved…they probably need to hear it