Robin Densmore Fuson

As we wind down the Sidekick and Better Half series, I turn to two of my favorite characters in the Bible. My first memory of their story came as a young child in Sunday school. I’ll never forget the flannelgraph images of Jonathan giving his possessions to his best friend, David—a robe, tunic, bow, and belt. If you don’t know what flannelgraph is, you should acquaint yourself with the treasured hands-on visual teaching. 1 Samuel 18:1 and 3-4 shows the friendship of brotherly love between these two—the heir apparent and a shepherd boy. Both raised with expectations, planets apart, of what they would become but with the same belief in El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ The passage expresses “the bond between them” and is translated from a phrase in Hebrew, which means “their lives were tied together.” Like a magnet drawing them together.   Jonathan’s name means Yahweh has given. Yahweh or LORD blessed Saul with a son, Jonathan. The Lord gifted David a dear friend in Jonathan. Jona...