New Friends

Making new friends, can be very challenging....or on the other hand, can be very interesting.  Since Marcey and I have been married, we have had a couple experiences where we really didn't know very many people that we would call our "friends." 

Our first experience in developing family friends, came shortly after we got married and began attending a church that neither of us had any connections to.  We really enjoyed the church, but most of the people our age weren't married, and those that were a bit older than us and were married, had kids.  Fortunately for us we were able to become friends with a few older couples and eventually we began to meet people our age that were married. 

I find the whole process interesting, because we met people and began relationships with people who would help us through many rough times and a few relationships are stronger than I ever thought possible.

As you can imagine and as I have shared many times before, we moved away from many of those friends and have had to develop some new relationships.

As Marcey and I ventured on a journey of establishing a small group, I could begin to see ways God was working before I even knew.  He created various connections with people that in normal circumstances I wouldn't have had a lot of interaction with.  We again had started building new friendships.

What I find interesting about friendships and relationships is that the more I pursue them and develop them, the stronger I feel connected to Him.  I see things and experience things that had I allowed myself to stay isolated I would have missed out on the gifts, experiences, and lessons God is trying to teach me. 

I find it curious that God designed us to be in relationship with Him and others and slowly but surely our society has been growing to where we are more "connected" than ever before yet we are so isolated from each other.

I find it interesting the circumstances that I have been in and gone through over the last few years and how I can see many of them as key pieces of connection in many of my most recent relationships.

I find it amazing how much God works in our lives and many times we don't even realize or think about how He has been working and believe our life is completely a result of own personal actions.  While our actions do play a part, I know God plays a responsive role to each of them and " God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."