A Lot to Be Thankful For...

Little things...

Like a warm day...

Or a Deep Blue Sky...

My Health. My Family. My Freedom. My God.

Thank-you!

Friends?

What does a good friend look like? What commitments are made between two people to cause them to call their relationship a "friendship"? And what happens when someone breaks one of those commitments?

I recently had a friend who made a major life decision without including me in the decision-making process at all. We got together and my friend told me about the decision which had already been made. I have no idea why this casued me so much hurt and disappointment, but it did. It caused me to re-think our friendship - not just ours, but al lof my "friendships". What does a true friendship really look like anyway? Is it just time spent together? Or are there certain commitments two people make to each other that you don't go back on no matter what?

When I get hurt like this, my initial reaction is to pull everything in and not open up so much to anyone. I don't want to take the risk of getting hurt again I suppose. But I know that's not the right instinct. I have to keep opening up and pursuing friends. I need people who will be there for me. People need me to be there fo rthem. This life is meant to be lived in community with other people who stay committed to one another through thick and thin. But those relationships are just really hard to find. And even when you think you've found one, I'm discovering that you can't be too sure.

I'm glad the Scripture promises me that I have a "friend who sticks closer than a brother" in Jesus Christ. He has never left me. He has never gone back on His commitments to me. He will never let me down. I pray that I can be as good of a friend to the people who call me their friend! Help me Jesus. Help me...

What Do You Really Want?

Recently someone asked me how I was doing and I told them I felt "bored" with life. Things seemed so predictable and so mundane. This person told me, "Maybe you should go out there and do what you want to do for awhile. Maybe you need to be turned loose to your desires." That was an interesting thought to me. What are my desires? What do I relaly want? If I got down the road in my mind or in my ideal fantasy world, would I really want to live there? Or if I lived there for awhile, would I gain a greater appreciation for who I am and what I have in this world today? Let's just say that I've walked down that road in my mind...that road that always seems like it's better than the road I'm on right now...and it's a dead-end. It always leads me back to reality and all of the ways I've been blessed in my real world...right here, right now...today. God, thank-you for helping me learn the "secret" of contentment. Help me to be present in my world today! One day at a time depending upon you and living gratefully for everything you are and everything you do for me this day.