What Happens When We Know Each Other?

I cannot be fully ME without YOU and neither can YOU be complete without ME. In a sense, we are “stuck” with each other, but in a good way. God created us to want to communicate and connect and share concern with each other. Otherwise, why would He bother with commanding us to “Love thy neighbor as thyself?”

So what happens when we KNOW each other? We can do “cute” things like finish each other’s sentences, read each other minds and buy that perfect gift for each other’s birthdays. But even more profoundly, we can be there for each other when life is not a bowl of cherries.

• When we can love each other according to God’s plan, that opens us up to the redeeming and miraculous power of God’s affection.
• Days of sadness will be a little less sad because we can be there to help wipe away those tears.
• Times of loneliness will be a little less lonely because we can show up to help chase the blues away.
• Satan will be less likely to bum rush us gangsta style because we will be there to cover each other’s back.
• After the love is gone or when the boss acts like he or she has lost his or her mind or when one of us has to deal with a bad hair day or the money is running short of a very long month, we will both have something to laugh about because of the support and companionship we share.
  
  

I guess God knew what He was doing when He commanded us to love each other. By allowing you to know me and me to know you, we have a relationship that could only be thought of and nurtured by our Heavenly Father. The effort to really becoming acquainted with each other was well worth the effort.

Thank God for the commandment to love and thank Him too for the good sense that led us to choose to get to really know each other!

Tomorrow’s Post: Do We Know Who God Is?

Will You Let Me Know Who You Are?

I look at you, but I am not sure that I really SEE you. What is your favorite color? What are your most secret fears? When was the last time you had your heart broken? If I do not know the answers to these and other questions about you, then how can I claim to know you?

Knowing is a two-way street. I must be willing to decipher the mysteries that you pose and you must be willing to open the doors to the secret vault that houses the clues to the real you. To be known is to make yourself vulnerable to the bad intentions that some people hold, but it also opens you to the goodness that God has placed inside of each of us. Is your faith in God strong enough that you will allow me to get to really know you? When you trust God completely, you can be certain that everything that happens TO you will somehow end up being good FOR you. This frees you to open your heart and your mind to the platonic or romantic relationship I offer you. Even if I end up hurting you or abusing the privilege of becoming familiar with you, God has promised to make everything all right.

So, the decision is up to you. You can choose to keep me on the outside of you looking in or you can decide to allow yourself to be a puzzle that I can eventually solve. “Love thy neighbor as thyself”; I want to know you so that I can fully love you. I am here trying to keep up my end of the bargain, but now you must decide if you will let me know who you are.

Tomorrow’s Post: What Happens When We Know Each Other?

You Don't Know Me

When you look at me, what is it that you really see? In most cases, your so-called understanding of me is based on the prism of your thoughts, fears, likes and dislikes, hopes and experiences. So, in essence your view of me has more to do with YOU than it does with ME.

But if we are going to relate to each other, I must do a better job of truly knowing you, as you should do a better job of knowing me. Instead of relying on our own faulty visions, let’s make a consistent effort to use God as our magnifying glass. Since He knows our “goings and comings”, we might as well draw on His vision of who we are and what He wants us to become.

Christian singles need to learn how to get to know each other. It is a shame that we travel this road of singleness without truly becoming intimately familiar with who the other singles are. “Love thy neighbor as thyself”; that is what we are called to do. Most of us have the sense to know that our “neighbors” are more than the people living next door. But we have failed miserably in the part of the commandment that exhorts us to love others as ourselves.

You know yourself, don’t you? You love yourself, don’t you? Then the only thing keeping you from completely following the above commandment is the fact that you really don’t know who I am. What are you going to do about that?

Tomorrow’s Post: Will You Let Me Know Who You Are?

My Prayer For You is For More Buckets!!

2007 is fast approaching and now is the time to prepare for its arrival. Are you ready for the blessings God has for you? I pray that you will have many buckets to capture each and every blessing that spills from God’s storehouse windows. This is one case when you cannot have too many buckets!

Chances are, you and I want the same things.

• To be in God’s will
• To be prosperous
• To be healthy
• To love and be loved
• To be affirmed
  
  

We want these things so badly that sometimes we can almost touch them, feel them, taste them and hold them. But so many of these things have eluded us at one time or another. Will this be the case in 2007?

My prayer for you is that if God must choose between us as to who will receive these things, that He will choose you. (See “My New Year’s Resolution” dated December 20, 2006) If one of us is to go through another year with their dreams unfulfilled, let that person will be me, not you. If only one of us will prosper in 2007, I ask God to let it be you. If He must choose between you and I as to who will find true love, then I defer to you.

May 2007 be the greatest year of your life, but not as great as the many years to come. My prayer for you today is that God will bless you beyond your expectations and that you will grow into more of what He has envisioned for you to become.

Now, go out there and get some more buckets!

My New Year's Resolution

It’s that time of year again! A time to reflect on another year almost past. A time to ponder what might have been and what should not have been.

This is also a time to look forward to another year of unrealized possibilities. What good things does the New Year have in store? What challenges will rise up? While we acknowledge the potential struggles, we most often expect (and hope for) the upcoming year to be “our year”.

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, we make promises to ourselves that we sincerely intend to keep at the time we make them. Lose a few pounds. Eat less. Exercise more. Start that business. Find true love. Lose “bad” love. We vow that next year this time, we will be able to reflect on the great strides we have made on staying true to our resolutions. But often, our resolutions end up being trampled on by our good intentions and shifting priorities.

My prayer for you is that whatever your New Year’s resolutions, you will keep them and that you will be a better person because of them.

For me, my resolution this year is not going to be about me. I often talk about a spirit of service that Christian singles should have. Sure I could stand to lose a few pounds. Most definitely I have books I want to publish and businesses I want to start. I am confident that those things will come to pass. However, my focus this year is on making a spirit of service my main trademark when it comes to my interactions with others. So, I will continue to pray for you by name. I will continue to offer encouraging words. I will not stop doing the things for you that I believe God wants me to do for you. But that is not all I resolve to do.

In 2007, my New Year’s resolution is to help at least five people achieve their dreams. There are people out there who have definite plans to accomplish and I want to do what I can to help them. If you have a goal that you have set, I am available to you. I will not impose myself on you by trying to shape your dream. Rather, if you come to me, I will do what I can to make your dreams a reality. So, if you believe I can help you get to wherever you are trying to go, come to me.

Between you, me and God’s purposeful will, 2007 can definitely be your year!

Solitude Is Not For Everyone

Because of God’s grace, there are some things He keeps us from having to go through that we are not able to handle. We may think we are as bad as we wanna be and nothing can get the best of us, but most of us are smart enough to know that we are not “all that”. We may never admit it, but there are some challenges or fears or people or whatever that we are no match for. Thank God for His keeping power!

I think solitude is one of those things that some people cannot handle. For those people, they would rather go to the dentist than have to deal with being alone. For these people, they will do all kinds of things to avoid the “curse” of being alone including staying in bad relationships, getting together with old boyfriends or girlfriends who they know are not good for them, wandering aimlessly around public places like the mall or clubs or joining organizations to just be around other people. Hey whatever works!

For me, I spend a lot of time by myself. I admit that it is not always something I voluntarily do, but that is the way things are for me. It’s kind of funny at times that people will not believe me when I say that I spend what I think are inordinate portions of my weekends and holidays alone. They assume that everybody has other people in their lives, but for me that has not been the case for quite some time.

Because I spend a lot of time alone, I spend much time thinking about me or more specifically, what things about me I should change or work on. I also think about what few special relationships I have and those other relationships that showed promised but never really materialized. As a writer, spending time alone has helped me to finish one more chapter, write one more essay and do more research. I thank God that although I am alone and I sometimes feel lonely (there is a difference!), I am able to stay focused on Him and on those things He wants me to do.

No, solitude is not for everyone. If that is not your struggle, then praise God. I pray that you will cherish the relationships you have with family, friends and romantic partners that keep you from being by yourself. If you struggle with solitude, my prayer is that God will help you rise above its clutches.

For all of us Christian singles, we should do what we can to help our fellow singles make it through their times of solitude. All it may take is a short email or a quick call or a genuine hug of affection or a little card sent through the mail to let someone know that they are not really secluded and that you care.

Solitude is not for everyone, but being a genuine friend can be.