A Traveling Companion for Your Journey -Do you have your exit buddy?

 

I just love “finding Nemo”.

Particularly this scene. The look on Dory’s face is classic.  She is so serious in her attempts to do exactly as she is told. And Nemo? He looks as though he wants to shove her off a reef! But what he doesn’t understand – yet anyway - is that he needs Dory.

He needs her for his journey.

We are not meant to be alone. Genesis 2:18 tells us:

“God said, ‘It’s not good for the man to be alone; I’ll make him a helper, a companion.”

God said it – we are not meant to do this thing called life alone. God created woman at that point in the story, as a companion for Adam. And I believe he brings people into our lives as well, to do this thing called life – together. Not just husbands, or wives; but friends as well – traveling companions.

Some people have friends that they have known since they first stepped into a classroom – 50 years later, they are still friends. Others have nomads: people who wander in and out of their lives. Is there more value in the 50 year friendship, than the one that we pick up along the way for a short trek?

While I believe those lasting friendships are so important to our lives and our journeys, the intermittent drop in is just as vital to our growth. I’ve always felt a sense of responsibility for the exodus of friends.

At times there were so many and it was so complete that I wondered what was wrong with me… what I did to cause their dislike or rejection. As time has passed, I’ve realized that there are many reasons why we lose companions; some of which I am responsible for, most for which I am not. But the important thing to remember is that they all shape and form my journey. Without those experiences; both good and bad, I would not be the person I am today. They were not just there by accident:

God has placed them all there.

We often think that some relationships we have formed are broken; mistakes. But God doesn’t make mistakes, there is always a reason.

  • The girl/boy who broke your heart, taught you what love is not.
  • Maybe the teacher who did not believe in you created a desire within to, against all odds, do something great.
  • That person who grates on your very last nerve at work? There is a lesson there….
  • The one who clings to your every movement and word, to the point where you start calling him/her “the stalker”? A lesson…..

 

Each one of these people are our traveling companions.

They are the ones that:

  • Inspire
  • Encourage
  • Guide
  • Mentor
  • Comfort
  • Challenge
  • Validate
  • Assist
  • Love, and sometimes provide.

It can be difficult to love and accept those “scratchy” people sometimes, but if we look with perspective at their purpose in our lives, whether that is to inspire or to challenge, growth will happen, and we will be all the better for it.

Welcome the travel companions that God places in your path.

You never know, one of them might end up being just what you needed.

 

 

Soli Deo Gloria!

lisa

 

2 responses to “A Traveling Companion for Your Journey -Do you have your exit buddy?

  1. Awesome reminder! Some of the people that have come and gone have left the me with great memories, lessons and ultimately wisdom….

    LikeLike

  2. we lose some but always remember them. and make new one but they
    don’t replace just add to my live.

    LikeLike

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