Touched

The time has come, and now is gone in the blink of an eye. All those years, and now they’re precious memories to have and to hold forever. Life, what a beautiful gift that is more precious than anything. Without life we wouldn’t have breathe, a heart/soul, memories, experiences and adventures, joy and laughter, or have the family and friends we are blessed with.

Some days my phone alerts me, more times than I can count, of people getting ahold of me throughout a day. Some days it’s pretty quiet with no written communications from others. And some days it’s a lot of in-person connecting with people. It can be a combination of interactions, too. People are human beings that need connection with others. In this day-an-age we can readily take communication with others for granted, because of our cell phones for instant communications and vehicles to “just hop in the car and go!”. Honestly, these are REALLY nice! Living hours away from a lot of people I know, I can say that I take advantage of multiple ways of communications to be in touch with people. How about you? What’s your favorite way to communicate with others?

People come and go throughout our lives. Some are in our lives (directly or indirectly) for a season, and others may be for a lifetime. Sometimes friendships drift apart. That’s not to say that something “bad” happened, it can just be we each take different paths in life and we just sort of part ways. It happens. It’s happened to me and I’m guessing it’s probably happened to you too? Some people, on the other hand, stay in our lives for the long haul. Maybe you have a friend, or friends, that no matter what happens in life, you’re there for one another. Maybe you haven’t found those people yet. Here’s the point, people come into our lives for a reason, and no matter how long they are apart of our life, they’ve impacted us in various ways. They’ve touched our lives and I hope we’ve touched theirs, right? We made countless memories together. We’ve laughed! We’ve caught our friends tears in our sweatshirt as they needed someone to hold onto for support and a listening ear. We’ve stayed up too late talking into the night, but wouldn’t have changed that time together for anything. We’ve went on road trips that have gotten us nearly lost and we realized that THAT was the best part of the trip. We’ve attended gatherings, parties, and celebrations together that have brought more interactions with others into our lives. We’ve met more people and made new friends through those we interact with. All of these beautiful and amazing experiences with our family and friends have made an impact on us that hopefully made worth while memories and life experiences.

Think about a person, or persons, that you enjoy spending time with. Maybe you like to go on trips with them. Maybe you like to go shopping, run errands, or exercise together. Think about why you enjoy that person so much. Maybe it’s not about what you do with them that you enjoy the most. Could it be it’s the conversations you have? Or the fact that you each take time out of your busy schedules to catch up on a regular or somewhat regular basis? And then again maybe it’s because you just enjoy their company and want to get to know them better? There are unending reasons as to why you can enjoy being with/spending time together with someone.

Each person has a special place in our lives. Some people are in our lives for encouragement and support. Some are for helping you to do your job. There are those that are in our lives for the long haul that are really good friends, through thick and thin… and one just may become your spouse. Some people come into our lives for a season for each of us to grow, in different ways. People can also come into our lives to help us grow character traits we may lack in, such as patience, perseverance, communication, affection, interaction, positivity, encouragement, humility, accountability, etc..

What happens when someone goes out of our lives? Does it leave a hole, a deep void? For everyone this is different, not to mention that men and women each deal with this differently, too. When someone drifts out of our life it can be easy, or hard, to adjust. Sometimes another person, or persons, comes back into your life again, in due time, and other times they don’t. We really just don’t know what the future holds. But I can tell you this, people were never meant to fill a void in our lives. Only God can fill a void. People are meant to walk alongside of each other and lift one another up again when we fall. Sometimes we are the ones falling and sometimes we are the ones helping a friend or loved one get back up again. It’s a beautiful depiction of lending a helping hand to someone in need. Someone that needs help, and we get the honor of being apart of their life journey.

Life isn’t always bow ties and balloons. Life can be gnarly and messy. It’s at times like ALL of these, the good times and hardships, that we are here for one another. To give that shoulder to cry on, to make that person laugh, and to kiss them on their “owie” to help make it feel better. If we experience all sorts of emotions, thoughts, feelings, and encounters throughout a day, why wouldn’t anyone else? We are in this journey of life together! But unfortunately, not everyone is “our people”, our tribe. We have to discern and find out who these people are. We don’t have to have JUST these people to interact with, though, because it takes all kinds of people to make a community. These people, our tribe, are our people that “get us”, understand us, and stand alongside of us when we need help. They are here for us no matter what and will be the grease in our joints when we are out of lubrication. They’ve got our backs.

So what types of people do you have in your life? What types of people do I have in my life? Stop and really think about it. Everyone in our lives is important for reasons, like I stated. Each person has helped shape us into the person we are today.

Today, I’m asking and challenging you to reach out to three different people that were or are currently in your life that you either; 1) love and appreciate 2) are thankful for 3) are glad you’ve met. Reach out to these people and just drop a note via email, text message, or pick up the phone and tell them with your lovely voice, “Hey, I was thinking about you and how you’ve impacted my life recently. I just wanted to say thanks for being here for me and for being such a blessing. I’m really thankful we’ve met! You’ve touched my life and make it better!” I can guarantee you that you will BOTH feel blessed by your reaching out to tell them how much they mean to you, what a blessing they are in your life, etc..

Guess what, I’m doing this too! But I’ve already done one, and guess who that person is?!? It’s YOU, the Reader! You have a special place in my heart because; 1) you are reading this 2) you are willing to engage in my blog post activities, and 3) you are in my life for a reason. And now I want to thank you personally for not just reading this, but to those that read my blog posts regularly. Spending time with you on the blog is ALWAYS a blessing. I hope and pray that you are as blessed by it as I am. So again, thank you! Now for the other two people… (maybe you’ll get to be another one of those people again!?)

As we part ways I sincerely hope you will do this activity and reach out to three people in your life. Let them know how much you appreciate them, you love them, and the impact they’ve made in your life. Life is too short not to say, “I love you. I appreciate you. I’m glad I met you. You’ve touched me life for the better.” I encourage you to take a little time and spread a little love and cheer to the person(s) that has done the same to you. Bless them, light up their world, and be blessed in doing so. It’s time, let’s go!