I’m a daughter. I’m a sister. I’m a friend. I’m a neighbor.
I’m a wife. I’m a mother. I’m a child of God.
I have many relationships in my life. On the one hand I’m
blessed. Oh so blessed to have all of these people to love and support me. But
on the other hand, it is a lot of work to love and nurture all of these
relationships. All of these people mean SO MUCH to me, and it can get
overwhelming at times to think about whether I’m doing everything I can to
serve them.
My mom was my first best friend. I was and still am her
baby, and a spoiled brat because of it. Navigating our changing relationship as
we grow older is tricky. After my dad passed away, she’s been working through
grief and trying to find herself again. It’s been rough. Roles are reversing,
and she seeks my advice and friendship often. I sometimes have a hard time
balancing being her baby and being her friend.
My siblings and I have a great relationship. We love and
respect each other, and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and adjust
accordingly. Growing up I didn’t have a close relationship with my sister, Kari,
who is six years older than me. She was my big sister, and we were far enough
apart in age to never have similar interests. That’s all changed now, and we’re
very close friends. It makes me happy.
Friendships are important to me, and I’ve always surrounded
myself with close friends. My best friend from when I was a kid, my best friend
from high school, and my best friends from college. Most live in the area, but
I don’t see them nearly enough. I really struggle with this because there
doesn’t seem to be enough time to nurture these friendships. We get together
for special occasions and holidays, but otherwise too much time passes without
really connecting. A big part of me wishes this was a priority for me because I
miss the friendships.
But I’m now married with a child and own a home in a
suburban neighborhood. I count myself lucky to have such awesome neighbors. A
few of which I call my friends. Part of me wishes I could nurture these
relationships and find closer friends, but something is holding me back. I’m
blaming it on time but I’m not sure if this is the real reason or not.
Without a doubt my best friend today is my husband, Jeff. I
can share anything with him without judgment, and he’s gotten to be a pretty
good listener and doesn’t always try to “fix” things for me. He is my rock, my
strength, and my comfort. We can use more alone time in this busy world. But we
often find ourselves many nights laying next to one another in the dark talking
until the wee hours of the night.
I won’t hide the fact that I love being a mom. Sean is the
most amazing kid ever. I know we prayed a long time for him, and clearly God
was working his magic. It’s the hardest relationship for me to manage and
nurture. But man, it’s worth it.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about my
relationship with God. It’s one I think about and work towards every day. This
wasn’t always the case, and some days still I fail miserably. But I’m working
on it. I talk to Him throughout my day, and pray that my heart and my eyes are
open to listen to His reply. I figure if I can get this relationship right, all
the others will fall into place.
No comments:
Post a Comment