Friends

Last nights' lesson at Life Group inspired me a little. We talked about how to have a relationship with God. We compared it to having a relationship with our friends. What do we have to do to keep that friendship up? Number one is communication. If you don't ever talk to your friends, how can you have a genuine relationship with them? Number two is time together. We didn't feel like you had to do something profound together, it just had to be time spent with each other. Number three is listening. If we always do the talking, or the asking, how can we have a genuine friendship? All of these can help us in our relationship with God.

So here's how I'm inspired:
I make time for my family and my friends, and don't spend enough time talking or listening to God. I want that relationship to be better and to be stronger. So, we talked about how to make time for God. Mel said she put a devotional book next to her computer. (This could also be the Bible) She said if she had time to get on the computer to check her email or read blogs of her friends, then surely she had time to spend with God. I love this idea! I often check my email first thing in the morning while eating breakfast. So starting tomorrow (I had to go to Maddie's school first thing this morning) I am going to spend time with God instead of with my computer.

I also want my relationships with my friends to be better and to be stronger. I need to spend more time with them. So here's my plan on that:

I feel truly blessed to have so many wonderful, loving and caring friends. But how much do I know about these friends? Some of them I really only know on a surface level. I don't know their middle name, or their maiden name. I don't know how many siblings they have or where their parents live. So I have decided that I need to get to know my friends better. I am going to start taking two friends to lunch (or having them over) every month. Now I know that isn't a lot, but I've got to start slow. And some of these people may not be "friends" yet, but they will be! (evil laugh implied).

Here's why I haven't done this before: 1. I feel like my house is a mess and I don't want to have friends over unless it's spotless. I'm betting you all have dusty shelves and a floor to be mopped too. So I am going to stop worrying about it and invite people over anyway. So ignore my mess! And 2. I would rather spend my money somewhere else. Well, this is obviously a very selfish statement. It's not my money anyway, it belongs to God and He will provide. So I don't care about the money. ( That doesn't mean we are going out for steak!)

So now my next job is to call a few friends and set up lunch dates. Anyone want to come over to a messy house and have a turkey sandwich with me?