Sunday, September 25, 2011

intentional community

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the busyness of life, isn't it?  And yet, in all of that busyness, feelings of loneliness sneak in.  Then the question arises: how can I make time for relationships when I'm already maxed to the extreme?  This is an issue that I have been actively praying about for the past three years.   God's answer: there is a huge difference between making time for people and making time for relationship.   Most of us have no shortage of people in our lives and yet we feel lonely, isolated, unknown and uncared for.  What we're not doing is making time or creating space to be in relationship with those people.  Relationships take work, and in most cases, sustained relationships require intentionality.   So, despite being overwhelmed by the busyness of life, my friend Shannon and I took a step towards relationship by spending Saturday afternoon together.   It was incredible outside, so we got in the car and went exploring.
After stopping at sonic to get half-priced limeades, we drove to Hudson, Wisconsin and ended up being enticed by the colorful balloons along the road advertising this strangely named sale.  We discovered a garage full of hand-crafted art which was beautiful and bursting with creativity.   I bought a hat, which I'm pictured wearing below.  Perplexed at first, but victorious in the end.   What a fun discovery!

Later we were wandering around a no-name town in Wisconsin where everything closed at 3pm!  While walking around we found a trail that looked similar to the trail leading to the Minnehaha falls in Minneapolis.   We took the stairs, hiked through some incredible fall foliage and did indeed discover a waterfall! 
Cascade Falls!  You can't beat a fall hike AND the purchase of a new hat all in the same day.  So fun!
  

1 comment:

  1. I to am trying to set time aside to be with friends, building relationships. With it being an extra busy year it's so easy to stay home and work, work, work, yet, like you said, become lonely all at the same time. :( I am challenging myself in this area and thank you for the reminder.

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