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Key Bible Verse: People who are alone when they fall are in real trouble (Ecclesiastes 4:10). Bonus Reading:Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Jerry White, the Navigators' international president, and Fred Hignell III, a real estate developer, began to pray for each other, probe the spiritual and personal areas of each others lives, and ask for counsel for tough decisions.

Then Jerry's adult son, Steve, was found murdered while Jerry and his wife, Mary, were off speaking at a conference. Once notified, the couple jumped in their car and sped home to find Fred already there, waiting for them.

Through the initial days of trauma, Fred was at his side. "Most of my life I'd been the strong one," Jerry said. "Now I really needed others. I was weak and unsure where my emotions would be from day to day—guilt, sorrow, fear, or just weariness. Fred sensed my mood and shared Scripture or just prayed."

As he worked through his grief, Jerry recalls, "Fred did a lot of listening, and at times gave strong counsel. His help was indispensable; strengthening me to help Mary, Steve's young widow Julie, and our three daughters in their deep need. He helped me through feelings of guilt that I'd spent too little time with Steve, insisting that guilt wasn't justified, that I needed to trust God for the past."

—James Osterhaus in Bonds of Iron

My Response: I learned the value of an intentional friendship when …

Thought to Apply: Friendship, of itself a holy tie, is made more sacred by adversity. —Charles Colton (British sportsman, writer)

Adapted from Bonds of Iron (Moody, 1994) by permission.

Copyright © 2004 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Thank you, Father, for the gift of true friends. Help me to value my friendships and keep them in good repair.

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