THE LOST ART OF RELATIONSHIP
are immediately around us, those we get along with the best, and we enjoy the seemingly solid state of our group. That is until something changes in the group.
We should still stay connected and nurture those relationships. However, realizing we have more capacity for more relationships is critical to branching out with other people.
Trusting God for the Results
One thing I have learned over the years is that I could never have orches- trated or planned how the relationships I have developed would have looked or taken shape. There is a huge element in this process I haven’t mentioned yet.
I fully believe that when we connect with others, God will use us and those in our community of relationships to benefit those around the greater community. This enhances the relationships in the community. Eventually, this will positively influence those who will become a part of that greater community because of our willingness to reach out way beyond what we think we are capable of.
We will never know how God can use us in that way unless we make the decision to reach out and plant the seeds of relationship with others. Praying about how we can do this will open up opportunities you may have never noticed before.
One of the main reasons I began this book was because of the advice of someone I recently connected with when our communities collided. It was over coffee one summer afternoon where Roger Flessing, a man with an incredible community of relationships, said the one thing that I needed to inspire me to write in a way I had never thought of.
We both wanted to get to know each other and our life/faith journeys. We went to coffee and BOOM! From that one conversation, I had the key that I needed to fulfill a lifelong desire to write and complete the work you are reading now. It was so simple! And I am trusting God with the results.
One more connection loop…a friend named Charlie Harrison, who joined the Rotary Club of Roseville just a couple months before me, played golf and met a gentleman named Scott Lewis. Charlie and I had taken time to get to know each other over coffee. While playing golf with Scott, he determined that Scott would be a great person for me to get connected with. He mentioned my name to Scott, and he was interested in connecting.
The ball was now in my court. I contacted Scott, and we met for coffee at a local spot. When he came in, he laid his phone down on the table and told me