Relationships

Relationships, they are what life is made of. When you really think about it, what would you do if you did not have any? But how do they come about? Are all relationships the same? Why is it so incredibly wonderful when they begin and so awfully heart breaking when they end?

When one thinks of relationships you cannot help but think of those with your family. They are the only relationships that we all must have in common. They are also the only relationships that we cannot escape no matter how hard we may sometimes try. For this reason they require the tenderest loving care to keep them happy and yet they receive the most neglect. Through thick and thin our family members will be there, and in spite of our worst moments, for some reason, we will still always have their love. But why? Where does this unconditional love come from and how do these relationships continue no matter how many hateful words we throw at each other? Perhaps the fact that one cannot unbecome someone’s family member has something to do with it; our pride will eventually crumble out of the need for love. But also, God has taught us how to love as a family, by being God the Father and God the Son and loving us as His own children. He has taught parents how to love their children, and therefore children how to love their parents in return, and then how to love their brother’s and sister’s. Our family members are gifts from God to help us get through life; we must not take these enduring and truly sweet relationships for granted.

The next obvious relationships that come into one’s mind are friendships. Friends, there are movies about them, countless quotes and metaphors, songs written dedicated to them, we like them, take advantage of them, betray them, lie to them, love them, and honestly, cannot live without them. Friendships have always baffled me. I have not lived an overly long life yet, but have already experienced many different kinds of friendships, and friends. There are those friends who I can laugh with, cry with, those friends that I just hang out with, those that I know I can call on anytime I need them, those that I can and do tell everything, and then there are those that I can catch back up with just like riding a bike. Most of them started in all sorts of ways and some I cannot even remember when or how they started. What confuses me even more is how you can be someone’s “best friend” and then a year later they are just your used-to-be-friend that you may never see nor talk to again. Or how quickly you can become someone’s new best friend. It is all so wonderfully mind boggling, how friendships work, how we can rely and depend on people who we know are fallen and will let us down. One thing I do know for sure about friendships though is that they are also gifts from God and that they help to make life here on earth sweet, and without them, well I do not know what it would be like without them.

Last but not least, we come to the, well, what do you call it, the romantic relationship maybe? This is the only relationship that not everyone experiences, I suppose that would make it less expected, and would make those who do experience it less sure of themselves throughout the process. This relationship is a combination of the two previously mentioned, in that you begin as friends and then hopefully one day become family. Throughout my short life I have noticed that once someone finds their “special someone” they seem to spend more time with them than their friends or family, time with them is precious, new, and exciting as the couple gets to know each other. More so than a friend is able to, your special someone can hurt you more than words can express, this is a more unique and I believe more sought relationship and that is what causes the deeper hurt when it has ended. For this reason, the romantic relationship is too precious to be carelessly earned and then given back. Too precious to be treated as though it can or should be had with more than one person in one’s lifetime. Obviously we cannot completely control how our lives play out and there are exceptions, but this relationship should be protected. For this is the only relationship in which your heart is given away. “She brings him good not harm all the days of her life.” (Proverbs 31:12)

All I can say to close is that relationships are gifts from God and I believe that is why they baffle me, why they too wonderful to understand.