Cake Balls

     I made cake balls for the first time with some of my friends yesterday.  Actually, I didn’t exactly do all the labor.  My friend, who hosted us, mixed the cake and icing together, rolled the mixture into balls and froze them so they’d be ready for us.  All we had to do was dip the cake balls in chocolate and put sprinkles on them.  It was my kind of baking!  More importantly, it was my kind of bonding! Because the dipping and sprinkling was mindless, the four of us were able to enjoy each other’s company and have fun, light hearted conversation.  The activity was therapeutic!  I left my friend’s house so thankful for Godly girlfriends and thankful for a friend who gets me out of my regular routine to do something like making cake balls!

     I was recently sent an email from a friend about a Stanford lecture on the mind-body connection and the relationship between stress and disease.  The speaker, also the head of psychiatry at Stanford, said that one of the best things a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman, whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends.  According to the lecturer, “girlfriend time” helps us create more serotonin – a neurotransmitter that helps to combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being.  Having friends is good for our health!

     Perhaps that’s why the wisdom teachings in the Bible include so many verses about the importance of friendships, primarily trustworthy and dependable friendships. According to Ecclesiastes 4:9,10, our friends are there to lift us up when we are down or in trouble:  “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”  Our friends should help us to improve in different areas of our lives.  Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  Our friends are closer than our own family members at times.  A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

      I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could get through the week without contact with my friends, whether it’s making cake balls together, studying the Bible together or just meeting for an occasional girl’s lunch.  Friendships are a gift from God that we should all embrace!