Friendships....a bit of a struggle.

I've been struggling with friendships lately...between newly made friendships and ones that I've had for years. Not sure what's changed, but I've been doing some serious soul-searching since things started to change. A dear friend of mine, who has been the exact model of what a friend is, gave me some inspirational words that really made me look at things differently. She said.....

"God is just weeding them out for you. Think about the phrase Reason~Season~Lifetime."

AMEN!

So in my searching, I found this list of what a friend is....and I am going to work harder on my part of it.

A Good Friend -
Accepts you as you are
Believes in "you"
Calls you just to say "HI"
Doesn't give up on you
Envisions the whole of you
Forgives your mistakes
Gives unconditionally
Helps you
Invites you over
Just "be" with you
Keeps you close at heart
Loves you for who you are
Makes a difference in your life
Never Judges
Offers support
Picks you up
Quiets your fears
Raises your spirits
Says nice things about you
Tells you the truth when you need hear it
Understands you
Values you
Walks beside you
Xplain things you don't understand
Yells when you won't listen and
Zaps you back to real.

H.E.A.R.T.

I am going to do what I will be calling a "H.E.A.R.T. check". 

H stands for "Him"...did I spend time each day praying, reading my Bible, worshiping or listening to Him? 

E stands for "exercise and eating healthy"...this one is pretty self explanatory. 

A stands for "all in the family"....did I spend quality time with my husband, children and close friends?

R stands for "reaching out to others"....did I do anything this week to help out someone in need? How did I represent Christ to the world? 

T stands for "truthfulness and transparency"...was I genuinely myself and let others see the real me?

Matthew 22:37 will get me through this completely:

 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

It's a new day....fresh start to my life!

Welcome to The Barnett Family blog!! So happy for the friendships that I have been blessed with from real life & Facebook that are willing to follow me on my journey!! Today marks a new day of life for me, one because my hubby and I officially deleted our FB accounts, together! This made me gasp for air as I hit that final "yes" when it asked me if I was SURE I wanted to leave....(sniff sniff) but I truly would do anything for my husband, and this is one of those things! I found SO many people on FB that I had lost connections with, going all the way back to my Kindergarten year, and I'm so blessed to regain those friendships so all in all, it was a 'blessing in disguise'. It was a phrase that came out my hubby's mouth that really made me open my eyes and realize what I've been missing in life since hitting that "yes" button to sign up for FB. "Delete your Facebook and go out there and find out who your REAL friends are". Wow, he's a man, AND he's right (this is scary) but the more I thought about it, he was. Which reminded me of a verse we studied in church yesterday,
 

 Proverbs 27:17  As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

I was getting mixed in to the drama and fake lives of people on FB, even ones that I don't even know, and it was not only affecting my happiness, but MY MARRIAGE! Anyhow, I could ramble, and ramble, and ramble on about the goods and bads of FB, but I'm SO excited to start this new journey in my life.....as I read on a church sign yesterday on my way home from Wal-Mart "Choose less of Facebook, and MORE of God's Book"

...I can't wait to see what God has in store for me and my family...

P.S. I have sooooo much more to talk about today, but I will save it for tomorrow!! Just to give you something to look forward to!