Significant Time

A couple of days ago, I received a great email from Amy, who I consider to be a great friend. Amy was in my student ministry years ago, and she is now in NYC doing great things. Outside of the random, "we are both in Dallas, so lets catch up" occurrences, we touch base via facebook and email. We don't correspond regularly. However, she will always be one of those significant friends in my life.

Significant because there is so much good in her and because of the significant time we spent working life out. Great conversations ensued about God, church, family, authenticity, hypocrisy, meaning, purpose, forgiveness and grace.

Blessed again, today, I received a phone call from Craig, who I haven't heard from in a while. Craig is another one of those friends who, like Amy, shared real life with me. Together, we worked out many of the same things in the context of ministry and fatherhood.

Wrestling through those topics with others are gifts from God, and I'm convinced that we too often take those opportunities for granted. It's so easy to live our lives "being productive" and "getting through the day," that we ultimately miss the heart of the people right in front of us. Worse than that, we don't cultivate our own heart, and we become emotionally numb. Without correcting that way of living, we end up with lots of acquaintances, but with no REAL friends.

So, as a result of an email and phone call, I thank God for Amy and Craig and others just like them. I'm thankful for all the people who God has used to shape me. I'm also re-energized to evaluate my time, shifting more of it away from the urgent, and onto the significant. Life really is too short to do otherwise.