The Simple Joy of Relationships

Faith gives your life the strong beginning for your foundation. When you put a foundation in for a house, you need to make certain the ground is properly prepared. Faith prepares you for this. To build a great beginning to your faith foundation, focus on these 3 items:

Reading: Spend time every day reading the Bible. You don't have to read huge passages for it to impact your life that day. In fact, I would encourage you to read small passages each day. Small so you can reflect on the words, consider what they are saying and determine the impact on your life for the day or your life. You should read the day's passage at least twice a day. Not one after the other but once in the morning and once in the evening. You might find something the second time that you never noticed that morning. You don't have to start at the beginning of the bible and read straight through. If you haven't read the Bible much, then begin with the Gospel of Mark. It is the shortest Gospel, reads easily and moves quickly.

Writing: Keep a journal. Record your thoughts on the day's Bible reading. Keep your prayer lists inside. List your prayer requests and your answered prayers. When things get tough, we often forget the times our prayers have been answered so keep them in your journal.

Arithmetic: We are told that there is power when two or more are gathered in His name. Prayer is a powerful part of your faith life. You want to pray with others. If you are not used to doing this, now is a great time to begin. Pray with your spouse. Pray with your children. Pray with your friends. Pray early and pray often.

You may think they should come first. However, I believe when you build your life on strong faith, everything else falls into line. After faith, comes your family. The first thing you must realize about your family is your impact on it. You are the heart of your family. Your feelings, your attitude is mirrored by everyone else in the family. Not fair? I know but that is the fact of it and you need to be aware of your impact on everyone.

Your Spouse: I have been married almost 30 years. I served in the Navy for 4 years beginning when I was 31 years old. After the Navy, I worked at a fuel facility. I have spent a lot of time with men over the years. I learned quickly that men get angry and frustrated with themselves because they are afraid of failure. They don't want to let you or your children down. You don't need to baby or overly pamper your husband but you may need to reassure him, letting him know how proud you are. You and your husband are partners. You need to support one another in order for your family to succeed. Each of you has strengths and each has weaknesses. Work together. One needs to be strong where to other is weak. Supporting one another builds on your rock solid foundation.

Your Kids: I have seen parents that seem so frustrated by their children. Sure kids get on your nerves from time to time. That aside, you need to enjoy and appreciate your children and let your children know how much they mean to you. Not by saying it directly but by encouraging them, praising them and supporting them in life. Learn to read your children so you know when they are having problems. You and your spouse need, you must work together to raise children that you would be proud to have live next door to you.

Your Family: This is your extended family. They give you support when you need it and sometimes when you might think you don't! They are a powerful influence on your children. Some of my fondest memories featuring my extended family when I was growing up. They offer something to your children that you are unable to give them. Sometimes it is their age. Sometimes it is their experiences. Extended family helps broaden the foundation of your family and strengthens the family as a whole. If, like us, you don't live near your extended family, then you need to create one. The whole time our daughter was growing up, we had older friends that became extended family for us. They offered our daughter a perspective we could not. Offer your children the gift of strong parents and an extended family and you give them a powerful future.

You need to begin with your faith. Then you must ensure you have a strong family. Finally, you need to indulge in fellowship. Fellowship is the time spent with people that share a common interest with you. Fellowship strengthens you spiritually and mentally. It allows you to share a passion with others.

At the heart of fellowship, friendship. Faith and family are important but your foundation must extend to include friends. Friends offer you and your family a new perspective. They see things differently than you, have different traditions from you and perhaps different opinions from you. You probably share many things in common but not everything. Friends help you build a strong network and, when your network is strong, your foundation is strong.

Plan events that include your family and friends. They needn't be frequent or elaborate. Potlucks, barbecues, picnics are wonderful events for larger groups. Play games. Have simple competitions that involve everyone no matter their age.

Celebrate with family and friends. Birthdays. Holidays. Special events. Create powerful memories for everyone involved in the event. Allow your children to create special events for family and friends. Teach them the gift of hospitality. Involve them in the process of having fellowship with the people that are important to them.

As you work to build your relationships, your foundation begins to expands out to until it merges with the foundations with every in your network until the individual foundations become one large rock-solid foundation. When that happens, nothing can break it out from under you. That is worth all the work you put into creating it for you and everyone in your life.