Blood, Love, & Money

You may have noticed I spend a lot of time listening to music and such. Well in the last few days I have had a hard time deciding what music to listen to as they are all vying for my attention. So to make everybody happy I finally listened to this audio CD i bought a couple months back when I was leaving Bible Study. The audio CD is entitled "Can't we all just get along". Its dealing with my favorite subject: The anomaly of Male/Female Communication. **insert sarcastic smirk here**

Now I don't pretend to know anything about what men are thinking or even what other women are thinking. I barely understand what I'M thinking from time to time. The speaker on the audio CD (Chris Burgess co-author of His Rules GREAT READ) has a way of speaking to you so that even the most complex information can be absorbed easily. And THIS is a complex subject. This particular entry is not focusing on Male/Female communication but how we communicate in any of our relationships. I found the CD to be jam packed full 'o information and when ever I find good info I always know what to do with it... PASS IT ON.



We are shaped through our relationships to others. Relationships consist of three basic origins: Blood, Love, and Money. Blood: family, Love: friends/romantic, Money: co-workers/customers/employers. Relationships won't always be fun. You may start to resent the role that the other person plays in your character development. Through relationships we are held accountable. We're expected to not only KNOW better but to DO better. Blood relationships (are supposed to) give you a safe environment to work out your kinks. Majority of the people I know myself included still have LOTS of kinks to work out. And that's when disappointment sets in.

Disappointment is unmet expectations (which are usually formed and fashioned by others and the media). We all have expectations without discussing it prior to or even when we say we don't we do. I once dated someone who told me he didn't expect anything from me. So whenever I did anything nice or thoughtful he was always surprised. Other things he did brought me to one conclusion: from the beginning he expected the relationship to sink. His 'no expectations' just meant 'lowered expectations'.



I on the other hand hold myself to a high set of standards so in my relationships with others (Blood, Love, or Money) I'm always disappointed when others can't live up to them. "If I can do it I don't understand why they can't its obviously not that hard *insert roll of eyes here*"

I think the only way to have a successful relationship (Blood, Love, or Money) is to follow these three rules (A) Love god- if you love God you won't want to disappoint him. So you wouldn't do anything to/with the person your in a relationship with that would disappoint him. (B) When conflicts arise know the difference between Grace, Mercy, and Truth- Truth is hard on the issue hard on the person. Mercy is hard on the issue soft on the person. Grace is soft on the issue soft on the person. (C) Be humble- make sure the person knows your equally imperfect. The only person that doesn't make mistakes is God. I'm not perfect and neither are you; it would be wise to remember that when dealing with others.

I'm not saying Mr. Burgess is wrong or right. But I know when I heard the last CD it sounded about right to me. I think I may take it into consideration not just in those Love relationships but the Money and Blood too. Think about it. You might want to as well....