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My daughter called me one day, her voice a mixture of anger and sadness.
For the second time that same week, a friend made arrangements to meet. They were just going to have coffee or lunch. Whatever, just a time to chat and laugh.
The meetings were around 2pm, technically after lunch. She chose to hold off eating to enjoy the meal with her friend.
They lived about an hour and a half away from each other so the meeting place was put somewhere in the middle.
My daughter watched the clock then left in plenty of time to get to the location. She and her friend had made the final arrangements about thirty minutes before she left so there shouldn't be any problems, right?
She parked her car just as a text came in. "Sorry," her friend's text read. "I won't be coming. How about if we get together tomorrow?"
I suppose it wouldn't have been such a big deal except another friend basically did the same thing two days earlier.
It's hard to take these disappointments as a young adult. It's hard to take these disappointments at any age.
We make arrangements, choose an outfit, comb our hair, and leave in plenty of time. We do our part because we made a commitment. Our word was given and we want to honor it. Not only that, we just like to be with our friends.
My daughter's heart was broken. I asked her to pull over to the side of the road. She said she did. I asked her to let her friend know how she felt. Not the whiny part or the angry part. Just the facts. She'd driven 40 minutes to the restaurant, she was ready to spend her own money, she was looking forward to their conversation and laughter, etc. "Then," I said, "Give her a chance to say she is sorry. That is what friends do. She probably has no idea of what is in your head. So tell her."
I was thinking about this scenario and how it applied to a relationship with God. If you're like me, you honor your people appointments unless there is an emergency. Then, if something happened, you call and make things right. But, I wonder, do I remember to do that with my God appointments?
Technically, isn't every minute suppose to be devoted to God? Yeah. I think so, too.
Making a commitment to honor appointments with God today,
tomorrow, the next day, and the day after.
This post was brought to you by the one word--Committment and Honor
Comments
I hope I never treat my relationship with God the way that guy treated me!
I was once stood up by a friend. I decided to forgive and get over it, and we've been blessed with a lifelong friendship. I suppose if someone kept doing that it would indicate a flaw of some type like overcommitment-challenged, etc. Maybe that is why God says to forgive seventy times seven times. Then people can be assured of having some lifelong friends. (My friend never was a no-show again.)
I think, too, we can help our "inconsiderate" friends...the ones who keep doing it, but posing blunt questions like, "Now, can I count on you to be there? I really look forward to our lunches, so I set the time aside." I think this would cause the person to realize that their word is respected by us. Their yes is a yes. I don't know. It's something i think I would try.
Love chatting with you, Janice!!