Protecting Your Friends

Today, a friend asks me to protect her from over-scheduling herself. All morning, I think about a friend's function as protector. 

"Yes! I will protect you! I will help you say 'no' and not ask too much of you!"

Friends should indeed work to keep one another from harm, but I seldom think of friendship like this.

I want to ask my friends this question: How can I help protect you? From what or whom? 

I realize we all need protection--spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, financially, or in any other way.

I need protection from desserts containing coconut.

I also need protection from trying to micro-manage my children.

I need protection, like my friend, from doing too much. I need protection from discouragement and burn-out in my teaching life. I need protection from afternoon coffee that keeps me up all night.

I need protection from watching too much news and obsessing over it.

I need protection from pride, anger, impatience, and gossip.

I'll stop now.

I love thinking about friends as protectors.