Thankful for Relationships: Near and Far

My 5 week "Writer's Block" has ended. Let's call it a sabbatical, if you will. Time that I took to get some things figured out.  It was impossible for me to blog about life when I was frustrated and confused by most of what I was dealing with at the time; so I needed to take a break.
The last 5 months have been eye-opening, in a weird, unplanned, kind of way.

Being in a town without your family, your closest friends and your BEST [Luke] friend is much harder than what I thought it would be.  For as long as I could remember, I wanted to "go-away" and experience life by myself. I was taking nobody with me, but my dog.  I could do it and I didn't need anybody; that's what I made myself believe.  Little did I know that it was going to take a Divine intervention to show me that I did, in fact, need people in my life. - Go figure! ;)

After all, how do you know you don't need people when you're blessed to have them there all along?

This embedded idea of not needing people in my life only caused a constant battle in some of my relationships.  Some of my closest, most important, relationships.  I prayed that this conflict within myself would go away.

Be careful what you pray for...

This is where the Divine intervention comes in. God opened a door and closed many others.  I found myself in a situation where I was all by myself.  In the last 5 weeks I have hesitantly come to the conclusion that I need these relationships in my life and do not enjoy being away from them. Not one bit.  Being alone was tearing me apart on the inside.
Yet, I had to find a compromise.

You see, dependence can be just as detrimental as independence if there is not a happy medium. (This too was part of my 5 week sabbatical learning process).

I came to realize that God blessed us with relationships because we need people to help bear the weight of this world. To lift us up. To give us a purpose. We are not designed to be alone. Yet (key word here) - He created us to be strong and enduring so that we could bear the weight of the world on our own when called to.

God showed me three things in the past 5 weeks.  (Well, it was more like the last 2 weeks because it took me a few weeks to figure it out what I needed to focus on). 

1.) I need relationships in my life. I need to feel close to the people I love and care about.  2.) But I am strong enough to endure this time alone right now.  Satan will try to tell me I am not, but God tells me different.  3.) He tells me I am never alone.

Ahh...the revelation of finding peace in being alone, but alone WITH God.

I could go on here...but I won't.  I will let you fill in the rest with your own thoughts and ideas about this. May you find peace, fullness and meaning in your relationships, together and apart.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I know I am very thankful for the time I got to spend with loved ones this weekend, for time with my husband, and for God's grace and mercy.