Friday, May 30, 2008

Listening, and thankful...


Listening is something I want to continue to get better at as I live my life. It's something that gets difficult when life gets busy. Often I am caught up in my own day to day needs that I forget to listen. I forget to listen to God. I forget to turn off the t.v, radio, computer, and just sit in the beauty of silence. It is in those times when I am able to really clear my thoughts and focus on what God is saying to me. 

I also want to work on listening to people. I want to have time to hear the struggles of my closest friends. I want to get deep with people I care about and just listen. It is when we can share the joys and burdens of someone else's life that we see the true reason of community.

 Intimate friendships are one of the most beautiful gifts God has given us as Christians. If I haven't had time to listen lately, know that I am praying... The difficulty of busy summers is that we begin to miss intimate times with friends we care so deeply for. Thank you Jesus for all of the wonderful people you have placed in our lives. 

Yesterday I watched my dear friend Michele turn 21 and graduate from Cal State Long Beach in the same day. I am so proud of her. She has encouraged me to continue my education and work hard.

 I am going to West Virginia next week to see my friend Amber get married. Amber and her sister Samantha have been my best friends since I was 8 years old. We have kept a long distance friendship for over 15 years. God has blessed us with a unique friendship to where we may only see each other once a year, but we never miss a beat. They are a blessing and I am very proud of both of them for turning into such beautiful women. 

Also, we have friends who have had babies, friends moving, friends dealing with personal tragedy, friends graduating, friends getting married... all of these things have been weighing on my heart and I just want everyone in  our lives to know how much they mean to us and how much we love them. This just reminds us of how many wonderful people God has placed in our lives. 

We also miss our small group very much! Hope to get together soon. I guess you don't realize how important a small group is until you are away from them for awhile! God is good. 

1 comment:

NehemiahSD said...

I feel you on that one! We are at an age where so many milestones in life our happening in our lives and friends lives, it's incredible. It's nice to reflect on the people that got us where we're at, and praise where God's taking them as well. We are built for relationships and we need to be continually praying for our loved ones and praise God for them. You and Marcos are friends I praise God for and you mean the world to me.