Breathing Room

Tonight I heard a great message at Church. And I am sure after a few of you read the words, “Church”, you will stop reading and write this whole blog off as nothing more than a rant about “religion”. But it’s not…it’s about relationships. Let me explain some more, keep reading, and hopefully you’ll get something out of this.

We, by nature, love new things. New toys, new gadgets, new technology, new information - new, new, new! But what happens to those “new” things after we’ve had them for awhile? We become dissatisfied and we long for the “newer” versions of our once “new” item - we become complacent and “used” to our “new” items. We do just the same in our relationships with people. Take your best friend for instance, I assume we all have one, and how you interact with them. At first, you were excited to be with this new friend - but once you are friends for awhile you begin to just think, “Ah, they’ll be there tomorrow” and you look forward to “new” friendships. You take that friendship for granted.

And the point of the message was we treat our relationship with Jesus just the same. We first meet him and we are on fire; we wish to know more, to do more, and to spend as much time in His word as possible. Then, later on when our relationship is not so “new”, we get bored with that relationship. The fire has died, the honeymoon is over, and we get into a familiarity with our relationship. We then start to look forward to different relationships, or “toys, gadgets, etc.”, instead of picking up our neglected relationship. 

We need to STOP, and look down at our neglected relationship. Pick it back up, dust it off, and start looking at it in a different light. Look at it from a different point of view, and ignite that fire that once was. Same goes for your relationships with people. Don’t neglect those relationships - they may not be there tomorrow when you go to text them. None of us are promised one more day here, so take time and tell those whom you love how truly important they are to you. 

So, in closing I just want to take the time to give a shout out to some people in my life I feel I’ve taken for granted and left them sitting on floor like all my forgotten toys.

My good friend Trent and his wife Mandy. When I was in high school, Trent was my best friend. I would hang out with him at least 3 days a week and spend most every Sunday with him. Even though the guy was older than me, we just “clicked”. And I spent many days chilling at his house, which was like a second home to me. Not only was he my friend, but a mentor, and quickly he and Mandy became like my “second parents”. I took them for granted for a little while, and now I realize how important they are to me. So if you guys are reading this - I love you both, and couldn’t imagine my life without you all in it. And the rest of my “Church Family” - I love you all!

My best friends Joe, Chase, and Micah. I met Joe in high school and he was truly one of my few best friends. I’ve taken our relationship for granted while away at college, and for that I am sorry. Chase went to the same high school as me, but we were never friends until college. Now, me and Chase are inseparable and without that guy my college experience wouldn’t be what it is now. And Micah - I just met him, but over the past few months that we’ve been friends, without him my outlook as an RA and as a christian in general would be completely different. I love all 3 of you guys, and am so glad to call you all friends!

And my brothers, Duston and Dylan. Growing up all we had was each other to befriend, and so we were all 3 each others “best friends”. If I didn’t have you two around life would be completely different. I’ve taken you both for granted and alway think that you’ll be there tomorrow when I wake up - but the truth is, you could be gone in the blink of an eye. I love you guys and miss you while I am away at school all the time. 

This one goes out to the ones I love…who’s important in your life? Have you told them lately…