This old snapshot of Chris and me has always cracked me up AND amazed me! I promise you this: the ONLY part of this photo that was planned was the jumping off the deck part. Seriously. The rest, the freakishly matched hands and perfectly mimicked angles: TOTAL ACCIDENT! I still look at it, 8 years later with giggles and awe! We couldn’t have been that in-sync if we had tried. It was an accident. A fun one for sure, but it was unintentional.
{Prepare yourself for a VERY cheesy transition line.}
Having soul companions is NOT an accident that we simply jump into and end up with perfect synchrony and connection. It takes time, work, and intentionality. It may be a cliche transition, but it is a truth that we can’t ignore!
We often “have people” but still feel alone and isolated. We watch our friends gather with other friends on social media, or we feel like everyone else has go-to people, or we simply feel left out sometimes. Our brain was not wired to process all the relational information social media provides us: who did what with who and who all went where with who. Our brain is still wired for the old-school way of relating: face to face, person to person. It is a part of our design; God wired us to be in REAL community with Him and others, not to scroll through what community looks like via a set of pictures and a cute caption and call THAT friendship. Nothing wrong with scrolling. We all do. Ha ha - I’m writing ON social media. It simply cannot replace sitting around a meal or grabbing coffee, or laughing with flesh and blood people.
But it does take time. It takes open-ended conversations, vulnerability, and intentionality. We cannot stand on the sidelines and expect to have meaningful relationships. They take YOU doing some inviting. YOU turning the conversation to more soul-level conversations. It seems we want to jump off the deck and end up with a picture-perfect relationship.
Soul Adventurer, if this strikes a cord in you, spend some alone time with God and begin by relating to Him. Tell him how you are feeling and what your soul longs for. Then, take one tiny step. Reach out to someone. Seek to know their world. Be present. Listen. Pursue. Don’t expect it to be perfect, but at least jump off the deck.
