You got a friend in me.

I have recently been redefining my view on relationships. And I’m not talking about lovers and dating and cheesy romance, but the everyday relationships that are an intrinsic part of every facet of our lives. I have been so fortunate to meet and develop relationships with some truly amazing people, especially in the past couple years since I started college. The hard part is keeping up with them all. The more experiences I have, trips I go on, things I become involved with means the more relationships I have to balance.

The amazing thing about relationships is that they are all important. God puts every single person in our life for a reason. It may be a small snippet of some one’s story or a single word of wisdom or just a great shared experience that makes it all worth it. And sometimes it’s the relationships that start off slow that end up to be some of the most intimate and important ones you will ever have.

It comes to the point where you have to decide how much to invest in each relationship because it would be impossible to keep up with them all. But it is amazing to realize how much I have learned and how much I have been affected by the short conversations with strangers or a few words from a friend I haven’t seen in years. This makes me not only realize the value of what I can learn from every relationship but also the effect I have through every relationship. And I am realizing how important it is to invest into relationships that I value most.

With that said, I am making a commitment this year to relationships. I want to hear about my friends’ lives and genuinely listen and genuinely care. And hopefully, it will be a mutually beneficial experience. Paul tells the Romans in Romans 1:12, “When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.” I want to support people in their walks with God and lives, in general. And through investing in these relationships, I hope that I can grow and feel supported. God made us to be social people – we’re not meant to make this journey on our own.   

So, don’t be surprised if I hit you up for a coffee date…and don’t be afraid to hit me up for one, too.

-Ray