2 are better than 1

Friendship is so important but we frequently just take our friends for granted – soon they aren’t our friends and we wonder why. The Bible talks a lot about the need for friends.

Ecclesiastes 4
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

OK – There you have it from the wisest man ever – Solomon – two are better than one.

The next time you think about going it alone, tackling a big job, or making a life changing decision – remember Solomon said, “Two are better than one.”

We need our friends to help us along the way. Friends come in lots of forms – childhood friends, school friends, work friends, family members can be friends, and if you are lucky your spouse will be your best friend. But being a friend is hard work (like marriage) and takes lots of time and energy. Friendship doesn’t just happen. You have to first be open to meeting someone, open to sharing yourself, open to listening, open to adjusting your schedule so you can get together, open to being honest, open to be hurt, and open to forgiving (really forgiving). And what do you get out of all this openness? You get what Solomon said, “Two are better than one.”

So what have you done today to help grow your friendships?
ElaineH.

Red Box

A coworker just walked into my office and shook their head. On my desk was my “red box” of greeting cards. In the box is an assortment of greeting cards, purple pen, return address stickers, and usually stamps. This red box is part of my efforts to be a good encourager. When I learn of a success in someone’s life, illness, death, birthday, etc. I take out my red box and send a card, right then. If I wait I will get busy and forget or it will be too late.

That is about the way it is in everything we do – if we wait to do something we forget or are too late.
· If we wait to tell our parents how much they mean to us, they die and we are too late.
· If we wait to tell a child how proud we are of them we get busy and forget – the next thing we know we are upset with the child but we don’t forget to tell the child how disappointed we are in them.
· If we wait to let a friend know we thought of them today we could be too late to help our friend through a difficult time and loose the friendship.
· If we wait to volunteer to help out then we get busy and forget.
· If we wait to say how much we appreciate our spouse then we get busy and forget and the spouse wonders if we even notice them.

My red box reminds me not to wait to do the things I want and should do. Everyone needs a red box.

ElaineH.

Don't You Just Love Weddings....

Don’t you just love weddings? My son just married a wonderful young lady. Her gown was beautiful and he looked so handsome in his tuxedo. Music and laughter fills the air, the flowers are lovely, and the champagne very good.

So why are people crying?

• The bride is crying … “My gown is so beautiful and this is the only time I will get to wear it!”
• Her mother is fighting tears … maybe from exhaustion
• Her dad’s eyes are gleaming with tears as he walks her down the aisle and as he gives the toast.
• My husband fights tears as he gives a toast.
• Another son and my brother are fighting tears – both went through divorce the past year.
• The best man voice cracks as he is giving a toast.
• The maid of honor wipes tears as she gives her toast.
• Around the room there are tears being wiped away and throats cleared to remove the lump that forms just before you burst into tears.
• And then there is me … tears sting my eyes but I know why.

I see my son getting married and realize he really is grown up and doesn’t need a mother any more. I see my new daughter-in-love and I fill with joy. I look at her parents and realize they did a really good job raising her. Then it really hits home, I am crying because of my husband. Being at their wedding, listening to them repeat their vows, I am reminded of my own wedding. Not that my wedding was anything like theirs except in the promise I made to my husband to love him in sickness and health, in good and bad times, for richer or poorer, forsaking all others. I fight the tears because marriage is so full of good things and the bad things just sneak in to make sure we recognize when good things happen. This is what they, my son and new daughter-in-love, will get to experience – so the tears are for all the things they have coming.

ElaineH.

The Best Father of All

Father’s Day is almost here and I feel compelled to Ramble about this holiday. My relationship with my Dad is at best blah. This isn’t due to anything either of us has done but more what we haven’t done and that is spend time together. A few years ago, I felt a great desire to improve our relationship and realized I needed to make the first step. So I called and invited him and my stepmother to the house for a few days. I sent them airplane tickets; my husband and I arranged for time off – one day he would be off and I would be off the other with both of us off on Friday and the weekend. Things went pretty well but no change in the relationship. No we don’t fight and throw things we just get our feelings hurt. My Dad has since spent one night at my house and I have spent a couple of nights in the town where he lives. Our relationship is about the same as it was when we started – not good, not bad, just not.

So why is this Ramble about Fathers? Because I know there are many children that have great relationships with their Dads. There are Dads that are the salt of the earth. There are Dads that are handy, caring, and willing to help in anyway. But there is a Father that I consider the prime example of what a Father should be – and He is my Heavenly Father. He cares for me, watches over me, guides and directs me, listens to me, and never gets tired of me and all my shortcomings. He has a place in His home just for me and someday He will wrap His arms around me and all my tears will be dried. And who knows the relationship I never had with my Dad will happen.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads and to my Father.
ElaineH.