Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:32 — 6.1MB) | Embed
Bonding connects us to others and makes our lives rich. Bonding takes time and effort but it is so worth it!
Personal Fact:
Some of my closest friendships and relationships got that way because of time spent on the mission field or doing projects together.
Fun Fact:
A fainting couch has one raised end and may or may not have a back. It was used in times where there was no air conditioning, hot kitchens and constrictive clothing. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fainting_couch
Bonding Connects Us:
Bonding connects us to others and makes our lives rich. Bonding takes time and effort but it is so worth it!
In episode 491, John mentioned that his family motto was if you aren’t serving you aren’t living. That got me thinking about family and bonding. I’ve grown to love my family more and more over the years. I’ve learned that a key to bonding is time. The best bonding happens when we spend time working and serving together.
Growing up I spent time working with my Dad at his store. I would help unload the delivery truck. I would work putting together bikes or lawnmowers. I helped him out ringing people up. It was a great bonding time. I loved helping him out and being there with him. But now I see that bonding extended beyond me.
You see it connected the two of us but, in a way it connect me with my Granddad. You see my Granddad Gentry passed away when I was little and I didn’t get to know him well. He had started the business, my Dad joined him in the business and later took it over. So even though I never got to work with my Granddad it was like I did. Even though my calling in life is not as a businessman, the time spent there bonding with Dad made me a better man and connected us.
Mom and I have spent time bonding in different ways. She is a retired teacher. I work in the office of a school so we have things that we talk about and we understand the stresses of the environment. We have also spent time bonding over projects together. She and I took an old table and refinished it so it could be coming my dining room table.
More recently we spend time bonding over another project. I’m the fourth generation to own a fainting couch. It was in my room growing up and when I bought my house it earned a place in the living room. It had been recovered in the past, but it needed an upgrade. Mom and I spent a Saturday bonding over this project. We took the morning to take the fabric off and the billion tacks holding it on. Then in the afternoon we stretched, tacked and finished it off. It was a lot of physical work, but it was fun. We have fun talking and bonding.
My family has spent time bonding by serving as well. We have served together in church services. We have worked together setting up for family events and so much more.
Bonding happens when we spend time together. But true bonding happens over work. There is something about time spent working on a project together that opens us up. It gives us time to talk, pass on skills, and share stories from our past. It seems like the work opens up communication. People who aren’t great communicators don’t get hung up on the words and the flow, but start to share. They are focused on the work and the words start to flow.
Bonding can connect us even without words. Learning by watching is huge. If you are not convinced of this just pause the podcast and go over to YouTube and just type in “How to” and you will be convinced. OK you’re back, good. Generations of people have learned by watching. All through out history, fathers have passed on their trade as their sons and daughters watched. First instructing without words and then by verbal instruction. Mothers have taught in the same way. We observe and we learn. We even find ourselves doing things the same way because we saw it walked out.
My church realizes bonding connects us and the best way to bond is spending time together. Families are together in the worship service. I’ve seen toddlers looking up at their dad and they imitate him as he lifts his hands in worship. I’ve seen teens with a rebellious streak forced to sit with their family. Years later, they speak about how that time worshiping, as a family, was used to bring them back to faith.
What I Learned Yesterday:
So what have I learned? I’ve learned that time spent working, playing, talking and observing brings us together. Those forms of bonding connect us to each other. Those times can even connect us to the generations that have gone before us. So I want to encourage you and encourage myself to spend time working and serving with others. Let’s pass on our passions by showing, telling and working hand in hand. Bonding, like love, requires time, commitment, and reaching beyond ourselves to think of others first. So let’s make the effort!
I’m Geoff Gentry and this has been Stuff I Learned Yesterday.
Send in your contributions for this week’s Friday Forum. Head on over to https://www.goldenspiralmedia.com/feedback and use the form on that page to submit your written or audio message. You can also use the Speakpipe widget to record something using your devices microphone. And of course you can call our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. We’d love to hear from you.
Join our Facebook Group at Facebook.com/groups/stuffilearnedyesterday.
You can Follow Golden Spiral Media on Twitter at GSMPodcasts and Facebook.com/GoldenSpiralMedia. If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, I would be grateful if you’d leave a review in iTunes.
[sc:stuff]