On Wallin Pond

After I posted last week about my trip to Washington to visit my friends, I found several blogs by others on the friendship and the importance of relationships. 

One was from Christine Wyrtzen (christine@daughtersofpromise.org – posted on June 15).  Christine  jotted down names of people who refresh her when she’s in desperate need of it. What is it about each one? Each is:

·         Someone who is deeply at rest in the Lord.

·         Someone who is unshaken by life.

·         Someone who has had their needs met in Christ and can listen well without self-distraction.

·         Someone whose heart is full of the scriptures and it comes out of their mouth at just the right time.

·         Someone who inspires faith, not blind optimism.

·         Someone who whispers courage based on God's presence and promises.

·         Someone who prays for me, by name, with intuition and discernment.

How blessed we are to have friends in our lives who meet these qualifications.

Then yesterday I was on another of my favorite blogs, www.aholyexperience.com, where Ann Voskamp wrote:

And I’m thinking about the times I’ve been in my own bubble with my own agendas of accomplishments, drifting away from people and the true happiness disguised.

I’m remembering with a strange sadness a woman standing amidst the floral memorials of her mother’s funeral, telling us of her mother’s far-and-wide reputation for the important stuff of bleach and immaculate housekeeping.

I’m thinking about the time I’ve chosen to wash windows, tend a flowerbed, answer an email, instead of playing a game of bananagrams with a trio of loud boys, read an Eloise Wilken story to pleading eyes.

My pride was tangled up in the tasks.

Why doesn’t it always matter more to love well?

Is it because relationships don’t bring us paychecks or praise?

Loving well, stepping over hurt, laying aside self and desires, draws on more of our interior resources than investing in a career, a skill, a personal pursuit. And yet, there are no promotions. No public status. No guarantees.

Relationships grow only in the soil of humility, selflessness, open-handedness. Relationships are inherently risky: for all that, you can’t control the outcome.

Investing in relationships requires courage. It mandates daily fortitude and intentionality to make moment by moment decisions to prioritize relationships while balancing vocational demands.

Do my daily decisions support my belief that relationship is the essence of reality? Or do I merely pay lip service to relationship —  while the use of my hours clearly reveals true priorities?

The value of your life — is the value of your relationships. With God and men.

So because I value relationships, developing and maintaining them, I go to Washington to renew “auld acquaintances.”  And I babysit at the drop of a hat, the dirt will wait for me to tackle it another day.  I put my agenda aside to spend face to face time with Andy.  I don’t always do it perfectly, there are times when I am asked to do something for someone that I hesitate, weighing in my mind the value of such a thing or if I can fit it into my schedule.  But ultimately, God highly values relationship, it’s what makes the godhead so unique and beautiful.  God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit always together, in perfect harmony, love, joy --- relationship.

This past weekend, we were blessed to have Kira over for a day and a night.  Dawn & Tommy went to a wedding in Pennsylvania, so they brought Kira over around 1:00 on Saturday afternoon.  Of course, we had lots of fun with her.  She is such a joy, keeping busy with whatever she thinks of to do and inviting us to join her. 

  

She stayed overnight, we took her to church on Sunday, then Dawn & Tommy came by to get her around 12:00 noon. 

Soon after they left, Ricky and Amy and their kids came by.  We had lunch together, then strolled around our yard because Amy wanted to see all my flowers.  We walked to the pond and helped the kids throw sticker balls in the water.  They didn’t stay long because they had come down to get a couch from Andy’s brother Jeff.  But we were happy to have them here for as long as they were.

 

As it happened, I did have time this week to tackle the dirt.  The house had gotten pretty dusty from all the construction dirt that was generated with the kitchen renovation.  I’m working room by room, getting the worst ones first.  The front room is done, as well as the dining room and sitting area.  The kitchen is pretty much finished, with only 2 more finishing touches left to do.  Andy worked at painting the doors and putting in the thresholds on Tuesday.  All that’s left are:  1)  installing under the cabinet lights and 2)  putting in the kick plate under the cabinets.

I’m very happy with the way the kitchen turned out.  I can’t believe it was done with such a minimum of inconvenience, which is now a distant memory!

 

But realistically, this new kitchen will burn someday, along with the rest of the house and all the things we’ve accumulated.  But what will last beyond time and into eternity is the relationships I’ve developed over the years.  Can you imagine how wonderful it will be to spend all of eternity, no time constraints, with the people we love.  Wow!  Sounds like heaven!