Well it has been awhile since I last blogged. I guess sometimes I feel like since I am just here in Branson there is not much to write about. Nothing exciting or new or that would keep any attention from my readers. Haha. So, although there might not be any travel in this blog now, I will try and be more proactive in writing. Its good for me…and it just might be encouraging to you.
So, I am learning how important relationships are. How they open your eyes to knowing who a person is and where they are coming from. How by allowing yourself to get to know someone you might not normally gel with, you can find things about them that might not only encourage you, they might actually allow a strong friendship to form. Who would have thought?
I think a lot of times we get so caught up in labels of people that we cut ourselves off from relationships that will challenge us and move us forward. I could surround myself with people who are just like me and that agree with everything that I say all the time. How boring would that be though? I have recently made friends with a jock…..who would have thought. My natural reaction is that I want nothing to do with that “meathead type”. Those guys that walk into a room and carry themselves with such “confidence” that it turns everyone against them. When those people walk in they normally press the button of insecurity in me. Which makes me not want to talk to them or allow them to get close to me.
That thought process just cuts me off from an opportunity to grow though. I don’t have to be best friends with that person, but I can take advantage of a growing opportunity to learn something. Why do they stir up insecurity in me? What can I do to change that? Can I find something about them to like? How can I relate to them? The scary thing about that is that I have to put myself out there in order to get to know them…..which puts me at risk……which is scary.
This season I have watched a group of guys all turn on one because of this very feeling. The cycle starts with a perception of what a person is like without really getting to know them. So then that grows. The dislike of who that person is….even though you have no clue. Then that person that is being ganged up on starts to feel the pressure which causes the walls to come up and the defenses to be readied. And it grows and grows until there is tension that is just waiting to ignite and a bomb about to go off…..and it will go off unless you defuse it and allow yourself to step outside of your own pride and insecurity and open yourself up to getting to know someone that you might not really like.
What can this accomplish? I makes you a better person!!! It allows you to learn how to better relate to people that are not like you, which allows you to impact more people and show them love that we are called to show them. It pushes you to look at yourself and see where insecurities lie that need to be dealt with in your own life. Which makes you a healthier person. So the benefits are endless!
My new friend the jock sometimes says things that trigger me Sometimes he acts a certain way that makes me want to get ticked off and tell him a thing or two. I have found that he has just as many insecurities as I do though. Sometimes I say things that trigger him….or make him frustrated at me. So, when we all step back….we are really all in the same boat. Learning and growing together. Why not encourage each other along the way? Build each other up for success, and not be out for mutual assured destruction. Show each other Jesus.
