I remember the day. It was the day I knew I loved Steve and he was my forever man.

We were in college. He was walking me from his fraternity house to my apartment. We stopped at my mailbox to pick up my mail. We were laughing and being silly. It was just one of those joyous days.

I inserted the key to unlock the box when Steve stopped me. He looked me in the eyes and very seriously said, “Susan, when I am with you, I am better. You just make me better.”

I’m pretty sure I had already told Steve I loved him several times before. But in that moment, I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, I was in love with him. I knew his words were true because the same was true for me. Steve made me better, too.

When I was thirteen I had an experience with Jesus similar to the one that happened at the mailbox with Steve. Even though I was nine when I asked Jesus to come live in my heart, it wouldn’t be until four years later that I knew I loved Jesus wholeheartedly.

Our family was taking a vacation in our RV. My sister and I were in the very back and as we bumped down the highway, I asked my sister, “Mary, what does it really mean for Jesus to live in my heart?” My sister is four years older than me and I believed she knew the answer to all things.

“It means that when you were nine, you asked Jesus to be your Savior so you could live a full life with him here on earth and one day be reunited with him in heaven.” My sister went on to say, “But, Susan, to really be in love with Jesus and to follow him, he must not only be your Savior, but he must be sovereign in your life. Everything you do and say must be filtered through him because he loves you and knows what’s best for you. This is how you live a long and full life with him.”

All these years later, Jesus is still both a savior to me and sovereign over me. Because of this, I believe Jesus makes me better. Following and trusting Jesus makes me a better wife, mom, sister, friend. Hanging out with Jesus helps me look more like him. And I think this makes me a better Susan.

Your relationship with Jesus tells your story of how you do the journey. You can choose to trust him and follow him wholeheartedly, even if life doesn’t turn out as you planned.

You can be sure this is true because Jesus says, “My purpose is to give (you) a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10). He wants you to wake up each morning and know he’s joining you in all the moments of your day.

This is what makes life wild and wonderful: seeing your story unfold as you live each day with Jesus.

I’m a compartment person. I put things in my life, such as people, circumstances, and activities into different compartments. For example, often I will say that I have a best friend. What I really mean is that I have a best friend for certain situations. Consequently, I really have about ten best friends. Gina is my do-stuff friend. Becky and Michelle are my sister-friends. Terri is my oldest friend (clarification: I’ve known Terri the longest which also makes her my dearest friend). Amy is my fun, yet wise, friend. Leslie is my coffee friend. Joby is my warm, fleecy-blanket friend. I think you get my point.

Not long ago, my friend Amy’s son got married. The wedding was out of town so five of Amy’s friends, myself included, traveled to Phoenix for the celebration. One of Amy’s friends, Lori, was a gal I didn’t know. So now, Lori is my newest friend. Anyway, it was fun going away together. Our husbands also came along, so now our friendships have grown to become couple friends. What was cool about the wedding trip was that as friends, we were spending quality time together and creating amazing memories. We laughed, cried, talked, danced, and ate together.

I think friendship is one of the reasons God created us. Four times in the Bible God calls someone His friend. I find that pretty incredible. Why? Because it means that you and I can also become friends with God. How do we become friends with God? Well, Abraham believed God and so God called Him his friend. Moses spent time with God, so God spoke to him just as a friend. The disciples committed to Jesus, so He called them friends twice. I guess the same is true of us. If we believe in Him, spend time with Him and commit our lives to Him, God will call us friends.

Not only does God call us friends, we can also call God our friend. Maybe you’ve never thought about God becoming your best friend. It might be a hard concept to grasp. He’s Sovereign, Almighty. But you and I were created in God’s image. And He created us so we could be in relationship with Him. In other words, He wants us to call Him friend. I think calling Jesus friend means you do similar things with Him that you would do with one of your earthly friends.

My friend Becky and I met for coffee the other day. We spent three hours together talking, laughing and sharing stories. Later that day, I wondered, “When was the last time I spent three hours with Jesus?” Another day last week, something great happened that I would call a God-thing. I immediately called my girlfriend to tell her about it. But why didn’t I tell God instead and thank Him for the blessing? I don’t know about you, but I need to work at becoming a better friend to Jesus.

Today, try doing something with Jesus that you would normally do with a friend. Perhaps invite him to have tea with you. Or go for a walk with you. Or maybe just spend time with Him by reading the Bible or praying. There is nothing God wants more than for you to call Him “friend.”