Hollie Taylor Archives - Sherry Stahl

Great Friends Make All The Difference!

Walk
with the wise
and become wise;
associate with fools
and get in trouble.
~Proverbs 13:20 NLT

For the past five days, I’ve been in Edmonton, Alberta. I went to help run a Women In Music & Media (WIMM Canada) event with my partner in crime; Hollie Taylor, at the Breakforth One Conference; Canada’s largest… and most amazing, Christian Conference. To say this time was life-changing would be an understatement.

I loved that my cousin’s wife Rachelle (one of my BFF’s) flew in all the way from Texas, so we got to spend time together catching up for almost a week! On Thursday morning I was interviewed for the Why Me? Podcast by Hollie and her co-host, Johnny Rocket. Later that night we all attended the GMA Covenant Awards where I got to cheer on some friends as they accepted awards.

On Friday, Rachelle and I joined hundreds of women at my friend Cathie’s Gather Women’s Event. We were motivated by so many of my inspiring friends who spoke and then got to hear Lisa Bevere too!

Along with the thousands attending Breakforth; I learned in the seminars, grew deeper in my understanding of God’s Word during the main sessions and felt God’s presence like I hadn’t in quite some time during the worship. Our WIMM Canada event was completely encouraging and connected me with more inspirational women.

The Conference and events were incredible but honestly, the best part of this trip was the people I spent time with, especially during an impromptu prayer meeting with friends in a hotel room.

Great friends make all the difference!

The wisdom found in this week’s Scripture is timeless. The people you spend time with will make or break your life. Lots of versions translate the end of this verse to say a “companion of fools will suffer harm”. Bad relationships can actually bring on destruction in your life. Yikes!

I’ve often heard the saying You’re the average of the five people you surround yourself with¹ quoted, but an article I read references studies that prove this isn’t exactly true. Although the people closest to you do affect you the most, your whole social network determines who you will become. I was shocked to read how research shows if one of your friends becomes obese you have a 45% greater chance to gain weight and even if your friend’s friend becomes obese there is around a 20% greater chance of you adding inches to your waistline. The study also shows the likelihood of you smoking is increased by 61% if your friend smokes or 29% if a friend of your friend smokes. How crazy is that! Not surprisingly, the study also showed that “happy friends make you happier!”²

The reality is that who you surround yourself with is paramount to your success in life and I’m not just talking about how much money you make. If those you spend time with people who are wise, you’ll gain wisdom… if your friends are fools, you’ll end up in dangerous situations that could lead to your harm; just like Rehoboam brought onto the people when he rejected the advice of elders and chose to follow the suggestions of his childhood buddies.³

Maybe it’s time to take stock of the people in your world? You might realize how blessed you are or recognize your need to make positive changes; keeping in mind that great friends make all the difference!

Prayer

Father… I thank You for the wisdom in Your Word. People may come up with cleaver new sayings, but they’re just rephrasing truths found in Your book. Help me build a network of people who inspire, encourage, uplift and challenge me to be the best version of myself, so I can keep myself from unnecessary hurt while making a difference in this world for You! In Jesus Name…Amen

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