Friendships and Feeble Words

I've been thinking about something lately, and finally thought I might share it with you readers out there in internet-land. With a matter of hours left (27 by the time I upload this) before our team leaves on our journey, and with humble thanks for reading my stumbling musings, I'll continue.

God has been speaking to my heart lately about friendships. I have a few very close "kindred spirits" that I hold very near and dear to my heart, and I have people that I know and talk with on a regular basis as "friends" and then I have "acquaintances" that I kind of know, but not on a personal level. What I have been considering recently though, is how I form those friendships. Generally I am a very passive friend-maker, only seeking out people as friends when I think I will be around them long enough to form deep and lasting bonds. If I think I won't be sticking around, I'll only form "acquaintance" level relationships with them. If I see them on a regular basis for an extended amount of time, I might consider them to be "friends;" and if I continue to keep in touch with them and spend time with them, perhaps after several years I may consider them to be "kindred spirits."

Perhaps an example may help illustrate my situation. This past year I took some dual-enrollment courses at Messiah College. In total, I took four different courses, two of which (German I and II) were with the same core group of students. I found that by the second semester, I had formed closer friendships with my German classmates than with the students I met in my other two courses. Both of those other courses required some amount of group work, through which I became acquainted with my classmates and formed some surface level friendships; but since I knew I probably wouldn't see them outside of those courses, I didn't make an effort to form lasting relationships with them.

Over the course of this school year, I have been feeling God tugging at my heart and telling me that I need to be more intentional with my friendships. I should make that effort to keep in touch when we part ways. I should be genuine with everyone, and do my best to make the other person feel comfortable. I should look for the things we have in common as well as the things that make us individuals and use those as conversation starters. Above all, I need to listen to their story.

There are a couple of things I would like you, dear reader, to take away from my ramblings. First is this: Seek people out. Listen to their story. Be intentional about following up with them. For me personally, I cherish the times I spend with my close friends, but they only became close because someone was intentional about following up on those vague plans to "have coffee some time." The second thing is a request. In the context of this trip, and future trips, please pray that our team will form relationships with these girls that will be followed up on and nourished through the year. The last thing those girls need are more empty promises. Pray that we will be examples of the "Friend who sticks closer than a brother."

If you made it this far, I thank you whole-heartedly for your time, and I hope some part of this made sense. The next time I write I will have some updates from Central America. :)