The word of the day is "UNITY"

So I have been doing some thinking... my husband and I had a conversation recently about friendships and unity and what not. We have both come to the conclusion that we have no real friends. Not that the people around us aren't genuine or friendly, but we don't really have anyone that we "do life" with.

I have had friends come and go in and out of my life, but strong friendships never seem to stick around. I believe most of that is due to my lack of maturity when it comes so maintaining relationships. I am still growing in this area. But for some reason my husband has the same problem with friendships, there really isn't anyone around that we, as a family, or each of us individually, can connect with on a personal level on a regular basis. Me being a woman, this is particularly difficult to swallow since I am driven from my soul to have bonds and relationships with other women. Recently this lack of unity in our "circle" has caused some turbulence. When people don't spend time together and connect on a deeper level then they don't really know each other and things tend to get taken the wrong way and feelings get hurt. People put up walls and organize defenses when all they really needed to do was speak up and clarify.

It's hard though, I have that problem as well. Anyone who knows me will tell you I have the worst timing of anyone when it comes to speaking up. It's a flaw of mine that results in me putting my foot in my mouth on a regular basis. I am seeing God working now though. It's difficult for me, but I believe that God is stripping away things from my life that are keeping me from working on the real problem, myself. I hate to admit it, but I have drifted, I've seen it for a while now and I've been making my sad mortal attempts at concocting a solution, but I've only been working on the outward problems and not changing the heart. I've been trying to turn sour fruit sweet instead of trimming back the branches and starting over. So although my attempts to rectify some wrongs have been somewhat in vain, it has painfully revealed the true problem and given the motivation to really make things right. I owe most of this insight to my best (and only) friend, my husband. I praise God for him and his ability to help me decipher the often obvious things in my life that are holding me and us back. He has vowed to love me forever, better or worse and help me reach my full God-given potential, he gives me the will to make a change and I am so thankful to him for that.

So I have devised a plan, a list of changes that will hopefully result in more UNITY - at home, at work, at church, in our lives in general.

1. PRAY more often. (I need to talk to God more)
2. READ Gods word daily. (I need to listen to God more)
3. Adopt a POSITIVE attitude for everything. (Finding joy in anything)
4. Complain LESS. (I'm pregnant, and uncomfortable, no need to remind everyone all the time)
5. APPRECIATE my husband. (He is awesome! Tell him & show him)
6. CONTRIBUTE more to my family. (I don't have a job-my family is my job)
7. SCHEDULE my time. (Get stuff done during the day so evenings are free)
8. Be FLEXIBLE with family time. (When Nick's off work, family time begins)
9. LISTEN better. (Two ears and one mouth..talk less)
10. Remember our family's VISION. (Always moving forward, always serving the Lord)

Most of those seem like no-brainers, but I have to refocus sometimes just to stay, or get back, on track. So here goes - I'm off to give my family more of what it deserves and pray that these changes, in time, will flow through out my entire life.