Friday 13 August 2010

Loving People Near and Far

I was listening to a talk from my church. It was talking about how the health of our relationships with people is reflective or our relationship with God. Makes sense.

Also, they talked about how people in America are so geographically far apart from each other. How you get in your car to drive to work, then drive home, drive to the store, to the other side of town to see a friend, and then somewhere else. There was a statistic that people spend an average of an hour and a half in their car each day. That's a lot!

What are ways nowadays to build real relationship? With so many people being so mobile, people are living all over the place. Email becomes a good way to keep in touch, maybe a paper card (real mail!), calling works but you have to coordinate schedules. And there are so many people that you don't get to see nearly as often as you would like, people that you miss deeply. It is neat though that there is so much opportunity to meet and connect to people all over the place. There are relationships that are seasonal, there is depth and connection for a season of life. There are relationships that come and go, ones that you are close with for a while, then not for a bit and then are again later. And then there are the relationships that will always be close, even in seeing each other is not that frequent. The people that when you see them, instantly it is as if you have always been in the same room, like no time passed in between visits. I love those! That the connection that you have is there no matter if you haven't seen each other or spoken for a while.

Relationship and connection to other people is so important. So vital. It is simple and hard at the same time. Simple, just take time to love people, to hear them, to care, to laugh. Hard, cause there is vulnerability and busy lives, different priorities and interruptions. But oh so important and needed.....

I want to be able to walk to a friends house like I did in elementary school. When I was little your best friends we people that you could get yourself to. Maybe I should go wander around the neighborhood to make friends, get a sandwich sign, "wanna be my friend?"

I think the important part in any relationship, one with God or people, it just taking the time for it. Simple really.

Monday 2 August 2010

A story that is not super important but is my Madison


A few days ago, I went to Trader Joe's. I love Trader Joe's. As I was buying my groceries, I had a confused look on my face because I thought that maybe I was forgetting something. So that started a conversation about how I just live down the street so really could come back should I need something. I get to walk to my grocery store! I love it!

Also, we were talking about the coffee shop that closed across the street. It made me sad that I didn't go there for a "last time", when you go knowing that it is the last time. We stood there conversing about the shops and what may go where and how great this neighborhood is. Then the guy raised his hand "knuckles" so we hit knuckles and I left for my day amused.

I love little things like that. I love conversations with people that you don't know. Some that you will see again and some that you won't. I met a lady in a coffee shop line once that was a crossing guard. She has been doing that for 15 years or some other long period of time. I have an affinity for crossing guards, I think they are neat. It is great how you can talk to someone and learn something new, or pass some time, or make a connection that makes the world less about individuals and more about relationship. I like too when you meet someone who knows someone, who knows someone you know. The interesting web of connections.

Sunday 1 August 2010

Things Changing

There are many things in my life that have changed recently. I have a new roommate, a new house, new people to work with. And the 24-7 Prayer Boiler Room that I moved to Madison to be a part of is ending. It is ending because a lot of the people are leaving Madison. These are not bad things. A season of change though.

It is interesting that I came to Madison to be a part of starting this community thing called a boiler room. As I was here though, I was learning different things, my time was committed differently than I was expecting too. I thought that I would come to Madison, get a part time job, and do work with the boiler room and the wider 24-7 communities team. I didn't know anything about Madison when moving here and also didn't know how long I would stay. I didn't think much about the city before moving here, not that I thought bad of it, I simply gave it no thought.

Now, I love the city of Madison. (I keep discovering more things to love about it- most recently, restaurant week, concerts on the square, and I had Michael's Frozen Custard today, yum!) I like being here in this city, I like the bike paths, the people, the food, the pretty lakes, so many things to love. I work full time at a job that is great, a good challenge and always changing. I have good friends here too, excellent!

And now I am wondering what the next season is going to look like. What/who will I be committed to? There are a lot of things shifting and changing, this could also mean growing in different ways, taking different risks, seeing different dreams happen. Any thing is possible. Also, there is a very big God who knew all of this was going to happen, and knows what is next. He is not spoiling the surprise though, as I have to wait for life to unravel in its time.