Stephen Ministers January 2023

by Penny Brill

Ways to make 2023 More Impactful in our Lives

Resolutions, many of us make them. Fiscal health, physical health, certainly valid goals and assuredly areas where most of us could see improvement! But consider relationships. Relationships are connections that anchor us and bring us comfort, as well as improve our sense of self-worth.

Not one of us was raised in a perfect family dynamic. We all have suffered loss of a loved one through death, anger or separation. Sometimes, we get lucky and find people who can fill these losses in our lives. People who mentor, who accept and who validate who we want to be.

We can all be open to accepting a relationship with a person who represents a role that perhaps a parent filled, or a sibling filled. Genetics is not the only way we have family. Lucky people recognize what is missing in their life and seek others who can help to balance us. I was grateful for my daughter’s college roommate’s mother who took my daughter in and treated her like one of that family when she lived far from home. I will forever be grateful to my mother-in –law who reminded me of the love a mother has for a child after my mother died. I am very fortunate to have friends in my life who are more sibling to me than the ones I was raised with. These kind of relationships help to make us live a more complete and fulfilled life.

Sometimes we get to reconnect. God is a connection that never hangs up. A connection that “gets” us and that loves us in spite of our actions and ourselves. A connection brimming with acceptance and strength. Church is a connection that can fill emptiness in our lives like no other.

Consider relationship building as goal for 2023. It may be taking some risks to open yourself to others, and to God…..but what rewards!

In Christ, Penny Brill

Anyone who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and anyone who takes care of a master will be honored. ~ Proverbs 27:18.

Stephen Ministry:

Christ Caring for People

Through People