In it for the long haul

Today I was talking to my Dad and a friend about seeing the long-term value in relationships. We were thinking in the context of the Kids Hope program my friend and I are both involved with. Dad reminded me that especially in our instant society, it's so easy to get caught up in seeing results and making things happen immediately, that we often don't invest time and energy in things that will last longer-term.

It's as we share life's journey over the long haul that we really get to support each other. Some of the friendships I treasure the most (apart from my Mum!) are with friends I see nowhere near as often as I'd like, some every few months, and some even every few years, but we've walked through some tough stuff together, and we know we can talk to each other openly and honestly about life. We know we can pick up where we left off and continue to support each other. But those relationships took time to develop in the beginning.

2 Peter 3:8 says, "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day". Yeah, God's timing is very different to ours.

Lord, teach me to be patient. Teach me to treasure the things that you treasure, to spend time with people, building relationships and sharing life together.