The Joy of Friendship

So I've begun to connect with some quality men in Grand Rapids and one of them said yesterday, "Friendship is built on trust."  I think that might be the issue that I don't quickly build deep friendships with guys.  I don't know if I've grown to really trust people.

But there is joy in letting down the guard and inviting people to see the real me.  Lord help me to enjoy friendships and be transparent and open to trusting people and to be trustworthy.

The Joy of Politics

Now I know what you're thinking.  Politics are joyful?  Most of the time people do not approach them in joyful ways.  Negative ads.  Hateful speech about the "other" candidate.  Doom and gloom talk!

But think of all the joys surrounding politics.  You see people become passionate about their issues.  You see people participating in a democratic process.  You see no coup d'etats whatsoever!  You see campaign managers and staff seeing the fruit of their labor!

And hopefully you see Christians praying for leaders.  You see Christians speaking kind words about people.  You see Christians engaged in dialogue about important issues.  There are many joys that can come from politics.

I've had some of the most engaging conversations with my mother-in-law because of this election.  So thank you God for the joy of politics!