The Holidays are here!!!

The Holidays are upon us already!!!  I haven't even thought about what to get everyone for Christmas or what to fix for Thanksgiving.  

Some of my most favorite memories from childhood are of the holidays.  

Thanksgiving was always at my grandparents house.  She would go overboard cooking and baking for days.  We'd pick the remaining stuff from the garden, start mixing, stirring, cooking and in a few days there would be a FEAST!  My grandma had this giant bar in her kitchen and we'd get it all cleaned off and just start piling the food on! So many yummy memories of her homemade cornbread dressing, gravy, turkey, sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes. And she'd make these tiny little individual pecan pies! My favorite!

If it was nice outside, we'd go eat out on the porch or if it was cold, we'd gather around the wood stove or fireplace.

Christmas was much the same.  Lots of family and food.  My mom was an only child and we were the only girls.  Seemed like we were the youngest in the crowd too.

Now, we are all grown up and everyone's gone pretty much.  It's sad, you don't really know how much time you have with someone.  

So many things I wish I would've learned from my grandma.  She was a quilter, gardner, painter, canner, beautician and so much more.  I was only 23 when I lost my grandparents.  They never got to know my kids.

Holidays are for family and friends and food. It's a time to put aside differences and enjoy each other's company.  Play games, take walks, sit by the fire.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Praying you all have a wonderful, thankful time and ENJOY!!

The one sided friendship

Aren't friendships supposed to be two ways?  Isn't that the very nature of a relationship.  Sometimes you give, sometimes you receive.  Sometimes you need help, sometimes you give help.  Conversations swing back and forth.  You talk, they listen.  They talk, you listen.  This is how a relationship works.

Sometimes you need more.  Sometimes they need more.

But the point is that it should be mutual. A two way street!!

When it's one sided, it gets very draining.  If the person is always dominating the conversation, or if they are always turning it back onto themselves, then it's one-sided. When the "friend" is constantly talking about themselves and rarely asks about you, then it's one-sided.

The thing is a person has many sides! There's so much depth and emotion and personality to people!  Why only focus on yourself in a friendship??

How do you truly get to know someone?  Ask them questions.  And then listen to the answers.  Ask related questions to their answers.  Dig deeper.  Truly listen.  Don't just think about what you will say or a great story you have related to what they are saying.  Listen to their words and listen to the emotion behind their words.

One sided friendships are tedious. They drain the life out of the other person.  People want to be filled up and poured into. People want 2 way relationships.

I try to be conscious of how I interact with people.  Am I interested in them?  Have I asked about their day?  How can I be of help to them?

And then when I need help, I can ask others.  When I need a word of encouragement, I can ask.

One way streets are often dead ends.

I want to be in friendships that give and take. Ones that help, encourage and go 2 ways.

So how are your friendships?  Do you take too much?  Do you give back?  Are you too giving and never ask anything in return?  These are the questions we need to ask ourselves. 
God made us to need each other.  And that's a good thing.