Inspirational: Don’t do life alone
Life for Micah and I hasn’t always been easy. When we moved to Dallas it was a new place where we didn’t know anyone. We were nearly-broke newlyweds. We had to sleep on an air mattress for weeks, we didn’t have jobs, and even Taco Bell was a luxury! But we knew that we were starting a new season that would affect the rest of our lives. It wasn’t easy, but, oddly enough, we never felt like we were alone or felt like it was too hard to handle. What was our secret? We surrounded ourselves with solid people.
We knew that the friendships we would make in this new season would either make or break our experience in this new place. That’s why when we moved, we prayed and asked God to send us friends. But not just any friends, we wanted life-giving, lifetime friends. And that’s exactly who God sent.
Our first year here we met the Ankarlos. They were married for three years, whereas we had only been married for 5 weeks. They had gone through things that we had yet to go through and we would ask them a billion questions about marriage! There was something about them having experiences in things we hadn’t gone through yet, while also going through a lot of the same things TOGETHER that made the move to Dallas a whole lot less lonely.
Then in our second year we met our best friends, John and Calee, who were recently married. We were figuring out life together and it was so much fun. We would have dinner together at each other’s apartment pretty much every other night. We would go out to support each other in ministry opportunities and we would even do ministry together. At this point in our lives, Micah and I had settled down and somewhat had our lives “figured out”. They came into our lives at a time when we could relax and have fun being married.
It was during our third year here that I found out I was pregnant. Being pregnant away from family is hard and can be very lonely but God knew exactly WHO I needed in my life. That was when the Lamberts became very close friends of ours. They had their first baby the year before us and became people we could lean on during that season. They would often invite us over and we would hang out with their family. It could have been a very lonely time in our lives but instead it was so fulfilling!
To this day we are still good friends with the Ankarlos, John and Calee, and the Lamberts. They are the kind of friends that Proverbs 27:17(NKJV) talks about, it says “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” Those are the kind of friends that you should invest in and let into your life. Ones that build you up, challenge you, ones who genuinely love you and have your best interest at heart. Time is something you can’t take back, don’t waste it with people who are constantly taking and not giving you life. God is faithful to put certain people in our lives, in specific seasons where He knows we need them most. God has put people in your life for a reason. I encourage you to invest in your relationships, create those life-giving friendships. God never intended for you to do life alone, and you shouldn’t have to!