Understanding Andy: I would have worked harder to maintain the relatio...

Understanding Andy: I would have worked harder to maintain the relatio...: Job 2:11-13 (Contemporary English Version) Job's Three Friends 11Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah [a] were t...

I would have worked harder to maintain the relationships I have and worry less about the ones I don't.

Job 2:11-13 (Contemporary English Version)

Job's Three Friends
11Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah [a] were three of Job's friends, and they heard about his troubles. So they agreed to visit Job and comfort him. 12When they came near enough to see Job, they could hardly recognize him. And in their great sorrow, they tore their clothes, then sprinkled dust on their heads and cried bitterly. 13For seven days and nights, they sat silently on the ground beside him, because they realized what terrible pain he was in.

Friendship is an amazing thing. It ebbs and flows like and ocean tide. There are highs and lows. There are storms and moments of calm. Why people don't remember to maintain friendships is one of life's mysteries to me. Most people don't attempt to keep a friendship going because they think the cost is too high or the reciprocation from others is too low but the one thing I know is it is worth the cost.

The great divide among friends seems to be the end of high school or college. People leave to create a different life than the one they have. They seek other friendships and leave the one's behind they already have.

Years later they spend time seeking out old friendships from the past. I can't tell you how many times someone has said to me," do you know what happened to so and so? I wish we would have kept in touch".

Reconnecting can be hard. After years of being apart circumstances have changed. We miss out on our friends life story, the birth of their children, marriages and divorces, death of parents and other life changing events. We could have shared our life story as well. Catching up will never make up for time lost but it is amazing to restart a friendship any way.

Friends are a support system in good times and bad. As with Job, friends are there when life is a little rocky or worse.

With the invention of social networks, life has become easier to keep in touch with people. If you want to see what they are up too or where they are you need only to check there facebook, twitter or linkedin account. Still people loose touch. Sometimes they just lurk in the background never saying what is on their mind. Wishing, instead of actively saying we should still be friends.

No matter how long it has been, a friendship can be picked up from where it left off. Old friendships can become new again with just the simple act of saying hello.

I have friendships that have lasted more than 30 years. Some all the way back to grade school some of these people I don't see often but we do stay in touch.

Realizing people and not things are the important part of life when you are young will make it much easier when you get older. You won't care how much money you have or how many houses cars or toys you have if there is no one to share them with. It is easier to keep an old friend than make a new one.

So work hard to maintain the relationships you have. It will be worth every minute you spend.

I would enjoy my body just the way it is.

1 Corinthians 6:20 (New International Version)


You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Looking at ourselves in the mirror can be hard as we grow older. We compete against a society that says we should look a certain way and dress a certain way and even eat a certain way. Make-up covers a lot of sins or so we think. The truth of the matter is we care way too much what others think of our appearance and the sad fact is you shouldn't worry about what people think of you. You'd be amazed at how seldom they do.

We exercise and try to eat right. We buy stuff to remove hair, stuff to grow hair and stuff to hide hair. In the end we can do nothing to hide the inevitable process of aging. We will grow old and no amount of plastic surgery, make-up, exercise or holistic approach can prevent it.

I recently heard someone say that when God made Adam and Eve, he thought they were more beautiful than the sunset or any other living creature. If you take a moment to think that God sees you as the most beautiful of all things, how can you worry about your outward appearance?

I am not saying you shouldn't eat right or exercise. I am not saying don't wear make-up or shave. You should do these things because you care about yourself and it is right for you. I am saying you are beautiful no matter what.

Do not punish yourself for the thoughts and acts of others. Be comfortable in your own skin because that is the way God wants you to be.

Enjoy your body while you can. Be the beautiful creature that God made. Enjoy your body just the way it is.

When Christ died as a Christian you became his body. How beautiful is that? 

1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:26-28 (in Context) 1 Corinthians 12 (Whole Chapter)