Over the past few days, I have been touring colleges and visiting family in North Carolina. Several themes have hung around including first impressions, growing and maintaining relationships. That ended up being the focus of the entire trip.
In the 60 hours we were gone, we managed to visit 12 family members, 2 universities, and 9 restaurants. With family, we grew and maintained relationships that have been around for a while but need some check ins, like a fully grown tree that needs to be trimmed and maintained. Meanwhile, the college visits and restaurant experiences were often based on first impressions--what stood out, what made it an enjoyable experience, etc. Both of these are just important since a healthy relationship comes from an effective first impression. Nevertheless, a first impression alone cannot form a healthy relationship; instead, repeatedly reaching out and developing a friendship is vital. Yesterday, I left my phone in one of the bathrooms at Duke in the dining hall. When I returned, about half an hour later, to find it, I was greeted by one of the chefs from lunch who we had spoken to. He immediately dropped what he was doing to help me find my phone. Maintaining a relationship is just like that: he'd already made a good first impression at lunch, but now he was continuing his compassionate impression to make it a noticeable characteristic.
When God saw each of us for the first time, he saw perfection, his own masterpiece. The first impression is there. It is up to us to continue developing that relationship, to continue being that masterpiece which is exactly what He sees when we dedicate each of our thoughts and actions to His will.
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