Thursday, August 30, 2012

Introductions

Have you ever thought about how you introduce people? Like if you were at a movie with a friend and saw a coworker. What adjectives describe the person you're with and which would you choose to express their relationship to you?

Some introductions are easy: "This is my husband." "These are my sisters." "This is my best friend."

But sometimes it can be more complicated than that.

How do you introduce a friend's parents who were more like surrogate parents to you than just her parents? What about a friend who has walked through more personal crisis with you than the average acquaintance?

I was thinking about this tonight as I was in a very similar situation. In a place where a lot of people know me, and out of context very dear friends showed up. It was interesting to me the words I thought of to describe their relationship to me. All endearing. All full of the gratitude I feel having them be a part of my life. I chose words that showed affection and love, rather than just the basic descriptions. I wish I did this all the time. Sometimes I feel like I waste the moment to inadvertently share with the friend how much they mean to me. Instead of "Hey, this is our pastor," I wish I would have said, "This is our very good friend, whom happens to be the head pastor at our church."

Sometimes I rock introductions, and sometimes I bomb them.

But it still interesting to think of how I would introduce those I care about...