{"id":635,"date":"2011-08-16T08:15:44","date_gmt":"2011-08-16T12:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/sweetshore\/?p=635"},"modified":"2011-08-16T08:15:44","modified_gmt":"2011-08-16T12:15:44","slug":"ripples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/sweetshore\/2011\/08\/ripples.html","title":{"rendered":"Ripples"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>So…<\/p>\n

I have this bad habit of waking up around 4:30 a.m. and lying there and thinking, “I’ve only got another hour of sleep, I’ve only got another hour of sleep…gotta get back to sleep…” \u00a0You get the picture.<\/p>\n

It’s 4:33 and here I sit. \u00a0I decided I might as well get up–why waste precious time worrying about going back to sleep only to have the alarm go off in less than an hour anyway.<\/p>\n

As a result, you get to read about whatever is running through my mind this early (LUCKYYY!)<\/p>\n

This morning, it’s kind of a hodgepodge of stuff…I need to post more blogs, I have a drawing I want to work on (actually there are several of them), my dog is asking to take our walk now, instead of 5:30 when we usually go (I think she can wait)…<\/p>\n

I waste a lot of time–or maybe not–perhaps it’s just that I have more of a sense of how much value there is in the time God gives us here to live out our years here. \u00a0Maybe that happens to a person as she ages. \u00a0Having never been in that position until now, I guess I’m about to find out–I’ll be 62 in a couple of months.<\/p>\n

What really matters in life is relationships.<\/p>\n

My relationship with God, my heavenly Father.<\/p>\n

My relationship with my husband.<\/p>\n

My relationships with my children.<\/p>\n

My relationships with my grandchildren.<\/p>\n

My relationships with extended family, friends, strangers that I meet and, yes, even you, if you are reading this. \u00a0You see, when I write, I’m sharing something that’s important to me with you. \u00a0Even if it’s just what’s running through my brain at 4:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

God tells us over and over that relationships are what matter.<\/p>\n

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind (relationship) and your love your neighbor as you love yourself (relationship).”<\/p>\n

Jesus says to give a cup of water (relationship) because of Him (relationship).<\/p>\n

Pure religion and undefiled is to care for the widows and orphans (relationship).<\/p>\n

Love each other (relationship).<\/p>\n

God didn’t put us here to be islands unto ourselves–he put us here to build relationships. \u00a0Relationships that expand like ripples on a pond. \u00a0You start with God & your relationship with Him in the center of the ripple. \u00a0The next ripple is your family and\/or significant others in your life, then close friends, casual friends, people you know but might not like very much (yep–that’s a relationship too), and on it goes until hopefully the ripples from your relationships are even impacting people you may never see.<\/p>\n

(The opposite of ripples, I think, is probably a whirlpool that sucks everything and everyone in its path down into its own helpless vortex, causing destruction in lives and ultimately disappearing down into the water. \u00a0We’ve all known people who are like whirlpools–continuously thinking only about themselves and drawing anyone they meet into their self-centered, spinning, sucking tunnel of water.)<\/p>\n

What makes a relationship? \u00a0I believe that relationships are signified by actions. \u00a0It’s not enough to sit around feeling warm and gooey about someone–you must act as a result of those wonderful feelings and, more often than not, in spite of their absence. \u00a0God never says to wait until you feel this overwhelming LOVE before you act. \u00a0He just asks us to ACT, thus living out His love here on earth.<\/p>\n

God’s love is demonstrated by WHAT WE DO, not by HOW WE FEEL.<\/p>\n

My challenge is to act out God’s love, even when I don’t feel like it and always whether or not it brings anything back to me. \u00a0I’m just supposed to do it.<\/p>\n

So…I think I’ll go draw for a while–that’s part of my relationship with God, with those who receive my drawings and a good way to start my day.<\/p>\n

Blessings, my fellow ripple-makers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So… I have this bad habit of waking up around 4:30 a.m. and lying there and thinking, “I’ve only got another hour of sleep, I’ve only got another hour of sleep…gotta get back to sleep…” \u00a0You get the picture. It’s 4:33 and here I sit. \u00a0I decided I might as well get up–why waste precious…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":424,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,5,1],"tags":[53,124,121,122,123],"class_list":["post-635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-and-death","category-personal-observations","category-uncategorized","tag-god","tag-orphans","tag-relationships","tag-strangers","tag-widows"],"yoast_head":"\nRipples - Sweet Shore<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/sweetshore\/2011\/08\/ripples.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ripples - Sweet Shore\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So… I have this bad habit of waking up around 4:30 a.m. and lying there and thinking, “I’ve only got another hour of sleep, I’ve only got another hour of sleep…gotta get back to sleep…” \u00a0You get the picture. 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