Lana Vaughan

A salesman I used to work with would call the office and ask if Sharon was free. I would tell him, “No. She’s very expensive but she is available.”

As social media and connectivity have become so accessible I have been wondering lately if they have also devalued true relationship. Does a quick email really replace a thank you card? Does reading my blog or Facebook page really replace sitting across the dinner table? Do text messages replace the sound of someone’s voice? Just as it is foolish to throw money into a wishing well expecting a great  return, superficial interaction doesn’t yield great relationships.

I love investing in relationships. I love sending fun surprises to friends in the mail for no other reason than because I thought of them and wanted to express my joy at having them in my life.  I love sitting over coffee and talking even if one of us is halfway across the country and I’m in my backyard.  I want to nurture hearts and dreams. I want to share sorrows and crisis. I want to look back on life together and see the dividends of love and life invested wisely.

I also want people who invest in my life. I want the phone to ring “just because”. I want to find surprises in my mailbox. If there are 5 love languages I want my friends to express their love not only in my language but in their own. Being the one investing all the time is not only draining but unhealthy. Learning to receive is crucial if I’m going to let others give. Speaking into hearts is nothing if I’m not listening to them speak into mine.

Being in a relationship is expensive. It costs time and money and energy and sleep and convenience and heart and pain and tears and love. But tell me anything worth more than true relationship? Isn’t it what our hearts long for? To be known and to still be loved? To fail and have someone care enough to help you up? To sing off key and have someone sing harmony? To laugh with you? To fight for you and occasionally with you, but knowing the other is worth the fight?

I have some expensive friends and I thank God for each and everyone of them. I am expensive but I am available.