Love and Relationship
Reflections on Love & Relationship
With some friends we babble trivial drival but avoid heart issues. with others, we go straight to the heart… Praising God for heart friends: those who walk with us through strength and storms, and hold us accountable
what we value most is apparent by how we spend our most precious commodity, our time. We divide up our time by necessary tasks and the things we love. We often linger with the tasks and people we love, and rush through the obligatory. Sometimes with the result of not having enough time to get to the things we should do, but our heart is not in them.
It is such an oddity of human nature that we pursue what we can’t/don’t have and trample/take advantage of what we do have.
Even in relationships, we often walk past those who care and nurture to pursue those who could care less.
There are those who invite you to conversation, not to interact, but because they want to do all the talking and have you do all the listening.
This is one of those mornings that I am remembering, with gratitude one of my dear friends who is celebrating in heaven.
She was a dear friend, not a fine friend…
A fine friend is the one with whom it is wise to answer the question “how are you?” with “I’m fine, how are you?” then proceed to talk about work or weather. a “fine friend” is mining for gossip.
A dear friend is one with whom you can share the truth… the moments of great joy and great sorrow and there is no judgment.
I am so thankful today, for my dear friends… You are precious!
When you find yourself trying to maintain a one-way relationship, you shouldn’t be surprised if you accidentally end up going the wrong way on a one-way street… sometimes it’s really hard to know what direction you are expected to go..
I choose to live focused on rights rather than wrongs;
I choose to live focused on solutions rather than problems;
I choose to live with a heart of gratitude for those amazing people in my life with whom real relationship is possible rather than in regret over those with whom it is not possible;
I choose to (keep trying to) respond rather than react, even when hate spits in my face.
I choose to stand, rather than kneel before false ideals and gods.
There are those in our lives whose presence refreshes, encourages, comforts and restores hope.
Then there are those who bruise, worry and challenge us.
Do we not need both in appropriate doses? Good health looks a lot like setting appropriate boundaries with the latter and time to refresh with the former.
One is sandpaper, polishing and refining us; the other is a soft, oiled cloth – restoring and bringing out the shine in us
We each make our own choices. My choices are not based upon your actions or inaction, my choices are based upon our amazing God who loves us even when we fail to do that which we choose, and who picks us up, dusts us off, and encourages us to try that walk again
Talking TO someone is often criticizing, demeaning, judgmental (without hearing their heart or perspective)
Talking ABOUT someone has many of the same characteristics… plus it seeks to destroy their reputation
Talking WITH someone, where you hear and listen… that is a relationship builder that brings encouragement and hope, it expresses love and consideration, rather than shame and condemnation and a sense of being unloved.
Physical wounds heal far more quickly than those deep emotional wounds inflicted by those we love. Let’s face it, if we don’t love the person, it wouldn’t wound us.
We declare what we love by where we invest our most precious resource, our time.
You can invite someone to real, meaningful relationship; however, it is ultimately their choice whether or not they will accept the invitation.
Bonds of love are forged through the sands of time spent together.
Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can permanently disable.
Sometimes we ally ourselves with others against a common enemy; the relationship must be continually fueled by gossip, to keep hate alive, since the basis of the relationship is enmity.
Other relationships are built on love, hope, companionship, common ground. They inspire, encourage, sometimes exhort, but are built on growth – planted in solid ground, relationships which are built on encouraging one another.
I pray that I would continually build relationships on love, not on hate. I pray for well-grounded relationships.
Is the reflection of an unloving person in your life a reflection of your unloveability or of the deficit in their own heart?
Loving some people is like loving a porcupine, if you don’t want to come away with barbs embedded in your flesh you are better loving from a slight distance.
A business relationship fills your head with knowledge/experience, a personal relationship fills head and heart with those experiences.
The filters by which view and interpret life impact how we communicate: If you are communicating with someone who is not using the same filter, what they hear/read will be received from a very different perspective from what you believe you said.
There are “promise makers” and then there are “promise keepers”… what a treasure is the person who is both!
Some people bring immeasurable pleasure to our lives by their presence; others by their absence…
The bonds of relationship are woven only by time spent together forging those bonds. They are not built on blood or genetics but on the foundation of quality time together.
Some honor, others are honored. Both are blessed by this relationship. On the other hand, there are those who are about honoring only their own desires and pride, which only adds mortar to the wall of narcissism surrounding them.
When you give a lot of parties and events, but do not give love, you have given that which is only superficial and fleeting;for that which costs the most, you kept for yourself.
One of the most vicious things one person can do to another is to ignore them.
Some times people can find giving to others extremely painful and never experience the joy that comes from extricating oneself from the pit of self-absorption.
Do you give love because it is the most precious gift you have to give, or do you give leftover love, that small , dutiful portion just to say you gave?
Love is relationship – not just a token “wish list” or “hello”, but communication: two way listening, hearing, understanding.
So often we bottle up our heart–a precious vial we feel must be protected at all costs.We do not realize that it is not the vial itself that is precious, but the healing balm inside. Pouring out this balm has the power to heal Both the giver and the recipient when our heart is broken and poured out for others.
Taking a step back and looking at a situation from another’s viewpoint, gives a fresh perspective and allows you to see the various angles more clearly.
Earth’s treasures fade and tarnish.We must polish and show lots of tlc (tender loving care) to those treasures in order for them to sparkle and shine.This is especially true of the people we treasure.
Fair weather friends are plentiful, but if you want to know who your true friends are, see who is walking alongside you holding the umbrella for you in your storm.
There is a time to be silent…to let the words of another wash over you, to hear, to listen, to know, to grow…to receive the heart of another and invite it into your life.
The word “should” is often a word of reprimand and condemnation.Respect would advise using it gently and sparingly.
In the end, is it the eulogy of a man written on paper or stone that matters, or the words written on the hearts of lives he touched?
Loves ones are like holding a rose, beautiful to touch and be near. Fragrant and pleasing, but the thorns will draw blood if you hold on too tight.
Relationship can be as flat as words on a page. To add dimension and depth to a relationship you have to add experience… without personal experience, it is just another page in a book. This applies to both our relationship with God and with other people. if you want a vibrant, living relationship, you have to have face to face time
Nothing is as fierce as a mama protecting her offspring,
Nor is anything harder for a parent Than laying down the sword with which They so valiantly defended their loved ones,
After over 18 years of training,There comes a time when a child must take up His own sword and fight their own battles
Soldiers only become seasoned warriors When they have been proven on the battlefield, For which they have been trained since youth.
Friends are like dessert… they are that finishing touch that makes life so sweet.
Ignoring another person is the cruelest of all actions…