Tag: Friendships

Get involved

July 1, 2026

Have you seen the series of insurance commercials that make it seem they don’t believe young homeowners should emulate their parents? When Cindy and I purchased our first home, we did it the way Mom and Dad had. We signed a contract for deed because we did not have a down payment.

The commercials I am speaking of criticize these young adults for getting involved. My wife and I encouraged our children to get involved in school, church, and with their friends. I do not get why having our children do things the way we do them is bad.

Maybe you did not think your parents were cool when you were growing up. Let me tell you about our girls. I was a teacher at church most of their lives. Now I am the proud father of three women who are teachers. One has been an elementary school teacher for over ten years. Her oldest sister began teaching high school a few years ago. The youngest is a stay-at-home mom who homeschools her kids.

There is the man who wants to help the server at a coffee joint find who a drink is for. I would not do this, but I would watch the entrance and the hall leading to the restrooms. When someone isn’t there to pick up their order, that is usually where they are. If I am alone, I go to the facility before ordering.

When I walk into a room, I look for someone who is not involved in conversations or other activities. Especially if I am also a stranger. It is difficult for many to strike up discussions with those they do not know. My years in sales, making cold calls, taught me to speak to anyone about everything.

I have thousands of stories about people I have met and the stories they have told me and how I began talking to them. I have shared many of these in these columns. One that I want to repeat here is about my oldest daughter when she and her husband had a company with a friend.

Cindy and I were talking to her about a trip they were all three taking to a convention. I knew the guys went to those to meet prospective customers, and I asked why she was going. They had a female buyer that had been difficult to reach, and they asked her to start a conversation weeks before this gathering. They were planning on closing the deal while there, and she had been asked by the lady if she was going. That is why she was.

She told me that it was my influence that made her learn to make contacts easily. When my girls were growing up, I always responded to their comments about other kids that seemed to have difficulties getting to know others. Our conversations with our girls encouraged them to make new friends by drawing them into the groups they are in.

I wish to encourage you to become involved with people. You may not be the one in your groups that can draw new folks in. If you aren’t, do not be the one that discourages friends from including those that need to belong somewhere.

Cliff Claven made it to visit the bar, Cheers, almost every day, where everybody knew his name. I walked into a PA’s office one day and met the new man. His office was covered in St. Louis Blues memorabilia. I left making a new client and knowing more about hockey than ever before. Try it, you’ll like it.

©Copyright 2026 by Charles Kensinger

“It just doesn’t happen twice.”

March 27, 2026

This is a line from the movie “Sleepless in Seattle” that is uttered by Tom Hanks, whose character has lost his wife to cancer. He is talking about love that results in a once-in-a-lifetime marriage. Some refer to this as your soulmate. I do not find this concept ever presented in scripture.

Many of the Bible characters that I admire have had multiple relationships that worked. Abrahm and Sarai are an epic. He’s not the perfect husband. She sticks with him even when he wimps out, and not just once. By the time Jehovah renames them to Abraham and Sarah, his faith has grown, and she has learned to trust her husband and God.

After the birth of Isaac and the death of Sarah, Abraham finds other wives and has more children. Those relationships are also important. Their children are the ancestors of many of the Arab nations that hate the Jews.

David’s first wife is the daughter of Saul, who was rewarded for killing Goliath. Read the stories of Abigail and Bethsheba and others. Then there is the last woman in his life. Her one purpose is to keep him warm at night. There is no sexual desire. There is no marriage. She’s a bed warmer. A companion.

As our lives progress, we have many types of love. There are flaming romances. We all experience friendships with others, in both genders. Love can be for both men and women for both men and women because sex is not love. One is physical, and the other is not.

There is brotherly love, which can also be called sisterly love. This is a friendship that is cultivated by those who have it. We need more people who treat others like family. That is the essence of this type of love.

Next, we should talk about the love of parents for children and vice versa. Some believe that this is normal for everyone. It is not. Some children are given up by their birth parents because they do not want them. There are also cases where one parent will leave. Often, this is a problem between the couple. Sometimes it is just selfishness that overrides love.

Jesus tells us that the one attribute we Christians should have is love. Jehovah told the Hebrews to love their neighbor as they love themselves. One man asked Jesus who his neighbor was. Do you remember the answer? He did not say it was the people next door or across the street.

He told a story that many people have heard, even if they have never read the Bible. It is called the Good Samaritan. Samaritans were hated by the Israelites. They lived in what had been the ten northern tribes that rebelled against Solomon’s son.

The kicker of this is that the Samaritan rescued a Jew who had been attacked and left for dead. Jesus also mentioned that a Priest and a Levite saw the injured man and crossed the road to go around him. When our savior spoke of love, it was agape, not any of the human loves. This type of love must happen more than just once.

©Copyright 2026 by Charles Kensinger