Intentional Relationships



"Mom, can we go frisbee golfing?"

In my head, my first thought is, "No, I'd rather not go out in 95 degree heat and toss a frisbee at targets for 2 hours." I'd gladly read a book in the shade, go for a hike, take a nap, or go for a cup of coffee. But frisbee golf?

But, when your 13 year old asks to do something WITH you, it's best to jump on that train because you don't know when it will pass by again.

So, we went frisbee golfing. And though it did end up being fun, the most joy was seeing my son doing something he enjoys and being a part of it. It's life-giving to the relationship.

I see this play out big time in other areas as well when it comes to our kids. I pretty much take life seriously and don't slow down to have fun a whole lot. But setting aside my own interests, and taking up one of my child's instead, always proves fruitful.

When I'm tempted to groan and maybe even sigh at the one hundredth conversation about Minecraft or the fifteenth conversation in a day regarding the latest novel they're reading, I remind myself of Philippians 2:4.

Look not only to your own interest, but to the interests of others.


This isn't an invitation to be a nosy neighbor or a busy body, but instead to maybe set aside your own wants and pursuits and share in the interest of another instead. As I said above, it's life-giving to the relationship. And I'm guessing you can see it too when you pursue the time and interests of your spouse, child, roommate, etc. 

This week, how can we be intentional about pursuing the interest of others? Where can we push pause on something of our own and take time to feed into another's instead? Even if it's taking 10 minutes to put down our phone, stop folding laundry, or turn from our computer screen to have a conversation and ask relevant and meaningful questions to the other on a topic that they care about. It's doesn't have to be a whole afternoon of frisbee golf. It can be short snippets of time, that on the whole, add up to a whole lot of strength building in a relationship.


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