BY ANGELIA CORNATZER
Being intentional is all about making choices on purpose to do things that matter to you. When it comes to being intentional in friendships, it looks like making the purposeful choice to make friendships matter in all the different areas of your life. It means being there for one another. Intentional friendships are full of celebrating the wins and mourning the losses together.
We have so many people around us and we have so much going on in life that sometimes we get bogged down in the busy hustle and bustle. When we get in seasons such as these, it can be hard to make time for the people in our life that we love. A very practical way to keep intentional friendships a priority is scheduling a time each week that you will reach out to the ones you love! Maybe every Monday at 11am you text, call, or write to the special people in your life.
Everyone around us is going through different things, grieving different things, celebrating different things, dreaming towards different things, and working towards different things. Intentional friendship looks like getting to know all of these areas in the hearts of your friends. What are your friends going through? What are they grieving right now? How can you celebrate them and what they are celebrating in their life currently? What are their dreams and goals, in personal and professional ways? What are they working towards accomplishing or completing?
When it comes to our lives and our friends’ lives, they can look very different. The goals you have and the life stage that you are in may be totally opposite from what your friends are up to. No matter the ups and downs, the celebrations, the sadnesses, the accomplishments, or the life stage, your friendships can be full of different types of people. When you are intentional, it doesn’t matter how different you are!
As we all go through different things at different times, take time to observe what your friends are going through. These things may be super awesome and exciting or super sad and hard. Whatever it is, as a friend you can intentionally come alongside and celebrate them or encourage them. After you get to know what they are truly going through, love them where they are!
So many of us have different goals, aspirations, talents, and dreams. When our friends are accomplishing their’s…let’s celebrate! Some of your friends may have wanted to get married young, celebrate that. Some of your friends may never want to get married, celebrate that! Some of your friends are building their own big business while some of your friends may be a full time mom, and these are both equally celebrate-able! I encourage us all to not only celebrate the big cliche milestones in life that are societal norms, but think outside the box and be intentional with your friends where they are. Maybe your friend just got her running mile time down to her goal and maybe your other friend just went to workout for the first time in years…celebrate both!
Lets all have eyes that see things intentionally. When we are seeing through intentional eyes, everything is an opportunity to love our friends and walk with them where they are! How can you be an intentional friend this week?
