Relationships are complicated and they affect our everyday life. We build relationships in all aspects of our lives from co-workers, to bosses, to friends, to family, to our church families, to team mates in sports, to our hobbies, to our spouses, to our children, their teachers, their friends and so on…..

Starting a relationship is the easiest part. Maintaining and keeping the relationship is the tricky part. To start, (in my opinion) the first relationship you should always start with is with Jesus Christ. If you have a personal relationship with Him, he will always be there with you through all of your other relationships. The good ones and the bad ones.

As you know there are different depths of relationships. There are surface relationships that are more like acquaintances and you do not need to spend much time with them. You may say “hello” in passing and know of them, but you do not know much about them. You will not have much time invested in these types of relationships.

There are professional relationships that you will build in the work place. These types of relationships can sometimes over flow into your personal relationships if you allow this to happen. Let’s face it, we spend more time at work than we do at home on a typical day.

Three of my closest and dearest friendships were developed with my coworkers. These are the types of relationships that I found and they lasted till God called two of them home. If you have a friend that you can talk to, who will always be there through thick & thin, who has been a part of your life and is there as a cheerleader no matter what, then they are the ones to be cherished and you can call yourself blessed! I am and was truly blessed!

The sayings that we hear growing up do have some validity to them. Such as: You have to be a friend to have a friend. You need to be kind and treat others the way you would like to be treated. (The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.) These sayings do apply to our various relationships with others.

Relationships take work. You have to spend the time and cultivate the relationship. It’s just like planting a seed. You plant the seed, you water it, you make sure it has sunlight, you sometimes talk to it (my dad would talk to his plants in his garden all the time..lol) and you watch it grow. You protect it from other animals to keep it safe so it can continue to nourish, flourish, grow and produce great fruit.

The big difference in the seed planting metaphor is that relationships are with people, human beings who have feelings and emotions. They can talk back, they can lash out at you and they also play a part in the relationship process. A relationship takes two people. A one-sided relationship is not really a relationship.

I’m sure you have heard that you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family. This is true. Families add a whole new dynamics to the definition of relationships. The family that you are born into, the family you inherit also known as your in-laws, 🙂 blended families and extended families. Then there are families that you adopt as your family because you have grown so close to them through your relationships.

As the blog continues we are going to talk about all of the various relationships that we encounter through out our lives. How to handle the various situations. Taking baby steps in the beginning of a relationship, Respecting relationships, love relationships, friend relationships and family relationships.

The relationships that we have throughout or lives tend to stay with us in various ways. Some relationships are temporary but have a lasting impact. Some relationships that we thought were going to be in our lives forever, ended up going by the wayside. Just like the majority of our high school friends. We were kids in high school, we did not have the same maturity to build the type of relationships that really lasted. I’m not saying it wasn’t possible, however, it is not probable.

Can you remember your first friendship in elementary school? I can. I remember who it was and that the relationship did not last through middle school and high school. But, I remember it and the relationship did have an impact on my life.

Relationships are give and take. They take compromise. If someone tells you it is 50/50. I would have to disagree. Relationships, like marriages have varying percentages. Sometimes they are 90/10, 60/40 200/200. Relationships compliment each other. You have some internal instincts that tell you when you are in a relationship or starting a relationship where you would like to go with the relationship. Is this friends, acquaintances or that special someone.

Do you have a scenario you would like to share about a current or past relationship you would like to share. Please do. If you have a question, looking for answers, or would like to brainstorm, send me an email or fill out the contact form. We are going to get into relationships on all different levels.