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February 6, 2023 13 mins

We have an opportunity to bridge relationship with neighbors, co-workers and even strangers! Join Matt & Melissa as they discuss the importance of community and friendships on their latest "Relationship" episode. 

www.mattandmelissapisani.com
@puzzleisreal

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Puzzle is Real podcast where we will be

(00:03):
discussing faith, family, andRelationships, hosted by Matt
and Melissa Pisani.
This is The Puzzle is Realpodcast when you know, you know.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
All right, here we go.
Welcome back.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
How are you guys doing?
We are here ready to chat, readyto talk about, let's see, what
are we gonna talk about

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Today?
Relationships,

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Because we are a podcast of faith, family, and
relationships.
So we are going to dive intorelationships.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
You realize we're relational people as human
beings.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Yeah.
We were born and created to bein community and to have
relationships to not beisolated.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'm excited about this because we both had a lot
of relationships living in NewYork and now living in South
Carolina.
We started from scratch buildingnew relationships.
I think it's been really coolbeing here over a year.
Yeah.
How many friends and new churchfamily members and just family
members in general, that peoplethat we've just really felt

(01:14):
connected to, that God has justbuilt up a community for us and
we wanted to encourage everyoneout there just to continue to
pray for your community.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, you know, it's interesting when you move to a
new place where you don't reallyknow anybody, you don't have
connections, and it's literallya clean slate, no pun intended.
Um, you don't know where thatcommunity's gonna come from or
how it's gonna happen, but likeMatt said, we just, we've been
praying for the right people tocome into our life, the right
community, the right neighbors,and even for us to put ourselves

(01:46):
out there, you know, the, thething that we have done and
we've tried to be intentionalwherever we lived, but now it's
a brand new neighborhood that welive in, so everyone's kind of
coming in on the same page.
You know, it's not like thecommunity's been here for 10
years and everyone already hastheir cliques.
So that's been really cool wherewe've been able to meet our
neighbors, engage with them, andcreate a community, a very

(02:09):
tight-knit community, um, fromthe ground up.
And we've seen that time andtime again, whether it's us
reaching out the first time andthen people will reach back out
to us.
And it's just creating thisorganic relationship, which I
think is really special becausewe are supposed to reach out to
our neighbors.
And I know I've talked to somany people that said, I didn't

(02:29):
even know my neighbor.
I would say hello.
But that was basically theextent of it.
So I wanna encourage you guysand ask you, do you know your
neighbors?
Do you know the people who areliving across the hall from you?
Whether you're a college studentor live in an apartment, or if
you live in a house, who's tothe left of you to the right of
you in the front of you?
Um, because you don't know, byyou reaching out how that's

(02:52):
gonna have just a great impactand also an opportunity to build
relationships with the peoplethat are right around you.
And I think that's been reallycool, something that we've done
here in Charleston.
Um, but I don't know, Matt, doyou have anything to, uh,

Speaker 2 (03:12):
To share?
Yeah, I think that, um, whatwe've done, it's real easy.
It's like human nature as youget older to be like, nah, I'm
good.
I'm, I'm, I'm busy, I've gotthings going on.
And you could easily not try topursue community.
You could easily say, I don'thave enough time to get to know
new people.
What I'm, I'm over 40 years old,I'm over 50 years old, I'm over

(03:35):
30 years old.
I'm a creature of habit.
I'm not gonna put myself outthere.
What is this dating?
But I think that as a, afollower of Christ as a
believer, or if you're anon-believer, if you're just
someone that's like, Hey, I'mstill on that spiritual journey,
trying to figure things out.
Whatever phase of life you're inon your walk, it's really

(03:56):
important that you do not allowyourself to be in isolation.
You don't allow yourself to bein a place of just, um, you
know, thinking that you can justdo it all on your own, but that
you, you need one another.
You need support.
You need someone to walk throughdifferent seasons of life with,
whether it's, uh, a brother or asister, a friend.

(04:17):
And we want to encourageeveryone that it's never too
late to find that.
And it's been refreshing for usto kind of swallow our pride and
to be humble and say, you knowwhat?
This is the time for us torelease any insecurities and to
really see what God has for usin a new season of community.
Now that can be simplistic tothe idea that, Hey, I'm just

(04:39):
gonna get to know my neighbors.
Right?
You could be living in an areawhere like us, you're trying to
figure it out.
Love your neighbors, you know,get to know them, learn their
stories, and, and find a way toencourage and inspire them.
And it could be as simple asdropping off some Christmas
cookies.
And I know we've talked aboutthis in a past episode a while
ago about how we used to do thatin our old home.

(05:02):
We'd bring Christmas cookies andwish everyone to Merry
Christmas, our neighbors.
And, and we decided to evenimplement that here in the new
neighborhood.
And it just, I believe it, itopened up this extension of love
to let people know that they'rethought of that, that they're
cared about, that they're, um,being considered as more than
just a neighbor, right?
We're called the Love OurNeighbors.
So it's really important that aswe bridge these relationships,

(05:26):
that we just continue to trustthat, hey, if, if a relationship
is supposed to be from adistance, you know, obviously
you'll figure that out too.
It doesn't mean you have to bebesties with everyone, but man,
it's refreshing to be refreshedby others.
And it can even be connected tothe idea that, you know,
sometimes you could literallywalk past right in front of you,

(05:47):
like a great opportunity to havea relationship with someone that
has been put in your path for areason.
So don't keep looking ahead.
And I'm talking aboutfriendships right now.
Like, whereas someone's rightthere and you're like, well, I
don't know.
You know, like, don't overthinkit, that there could be a great
blessing right in front of youto, to build a, a relationship
and a friend today.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah.
And another cool thing is, youknow, I think I never thought I
would be where we are today, notonly locationally, but also um,
with homeschooling, right?
Matt and I had kids and so manythings have happened in our
world and just with the pandemicand so much going on that we

(06:29):
really prayed through thedecision of homeschooling our
children.
So when we moved down to SouthCarolina, we were looking for a
community.
Um, so we actually found thisprogram called Classical
Conversations, which is allfaith-based.
And we meet one day a week.
It's called Community Day.
And it's amazing.

(06:50):
Like I get to go to school withMercy and I'm there the whole
time with her.
I'm learning with her, I'minteracting with everyone.
The other moms are there, andobviously dads are welcome as
well.
But it's just been, it's beenreally amazing cuz it's built
community within a community.
So not only are their kidsgetting little friends, the moms

(07:14):
are now interacting with oneanother.
And now we know their children,they know us and you know, we
have field trips outside of thatday.
We have play dates, we have, youknow, conversations, people stop
over.
Um, it's been, it's been really,really amazing just being able
to have that sense of communityand the, that you know, that

(07:37):
someone's in the same seasonthat you were in and being able
to connect on so many differentlevels.
And the fact that, um, we allhave the same heart behind why
we are homeschooling and whatkind of education we wanna give
to our children is, uh, it's abeautiful thing.
And like I said, I never thoughtwe would be the homeschool
parents, but here we are.

(07:57):
And it's been such a blessingand Matt has even been able to
go and be a part of the day withMercy.
So he's got to experience it,which has been really awesome.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
Homeschools not weird, homeschools not weird.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
It's not weird.
And, you know, it's been, we,we've been entrusted with these
little minds and just theselittle souls and it's just so
important to us to be able tojust fill that with just godly
principles and foundation.
Also to be, for them to besurrounded by other godly
children and families.
So whatever your community isgonna look like, whatever your

(08:33):
relationships are gonna looklike, um, may look different
than what you anticipated.
But to be open to what God hasfor you and the path that he
wants to set you on, and alsojust to reach out.
Maybe you need to be the personwho makes the phone call.
You need to be the person tostop at someone's house and say,
Hey, I'm bringing you flowerscuz I'm thinking I was thinking
of you.

(08:53):
I know you've been having a hardtime or whatever that may look
like mm-hmm.
.
So cuz that's happened to uswhere people have shown up and
I'm like, wow, I didn't evenknow that you thought of me like
that.
And mm-hmm.
, it's just been,it's been great.
So although we live in a newplace, it feels like we've been
here for a while and God hasjust planted just so many roots
already here for us where theflowers are blooming and just

(09:17):
things are happening and is allby faith.
So this episode not only isabout relationships, but also
faith, you know, taking thatleap and trusting in him that
he's gonna guide you exactlywhere he wants you to be.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yeah.
And there's an extension ofkindness that I feel like is so
interrelational with, withpeople, right?
Strangers, people that we get toknow.
And kindness is contagious.
We're gonna be doing a wholemonth on kindness, um mm-hmm.
with our socialmedia for clean slate living.
But even personally, we thinkabout things that we can do to

(09:50):
be kind to one another and tolove people.
And I can't stop by thinkingabout, man, what if we didn't do
these things?
So don't let pride or ego get inthe way of extending.
And even if you try with certainpeople and you feel like, oh
man, I feel like I'm not gettinganywhere.
I really wanna meet up with thisperson.
I really want a fellowship withthem or, or get to know them.
And you feel like there's like a, a wall that's sitting there.

(10:11):
Like sometimes it's just lifeand people are busy.
So don't take it as an offenseor a rejection, obviously don't
be the weirdo that's overlypushy, but be intentional to
follow up with people if youdon't hear from'em in a while.
Because everyone can easily fallinto isolation.
And that's exactly what theenemy wants, is to isolate and
then try to kill and destroyyou.
And that's a, uh, area that wealways want to encourage people

(10:34):
to find that community.
And for those of you that areconnected to a church, and maybe
you haven't been there in awhile, or you haven't been to
the building and you haven'tconnected with the people, I
just want to encourage you withHebrews 10 25.
And this is just a, a reallyimportant verse to me.
And I know I always look at thisverse from time to time as a
reminder, not forsaking theassembling of others of

(10:55):
ourselves together as is themanner of some, but exhorting
one another and so much more asyou see the day approaching.
So, you know, once again, likewe don't want to forget about
the importance of fellowship andconnection and, and there's
different ways of, um, thinkingof that and looking it up.
But, you know, let us notneglect meeting together, right?
As some have made a habit, butlet us encourage one another and

(11:18):
all the more as you see the dayapproaching.
So there's a lot of differentinterpretations of this verse
and translations, but don't stopdoing that.
Don't stop finding a way toconnect with your fellow sisters
or brothers in the Lord and beintentional about it.
It's refreshing when you can berefreshment to someone else.
And it's also really powerfulwhen you see how God's going to

(11:40):
use that in your relationshipsin and out of seasons.
And, and we just are reallyexcited to just share with you
other things that we see God'sdoing in Charleston and South
Carolina and around the countryas our friends are giving us
praise reports, butrelationships, they take work,

(12:00):
but the fruit of them are, arepriceless.
Great friendships, greatrelationships to come.
And we just pray that over youguys lives.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
Yeah.
And we thank you guys forlistening and um, we hope to be
more consistent here with ourepisodes coming out.
So thanks for being patient, butwe love you guys.
Yes.
Step out in faith, say hello tothat person that you have not
said hello to that you see maybeevery day and do an act of
kindness.

(12:27):
And you never know where peopleare at.
You know, not everyone's abeliever, we all know that.
But if we are different and westep out in love, people know
that we're different and that'swhat we're called to be as
Christians.
We're supposed to not be of thisworld and we're supposed to be
the light of this world.
So step out in faith, love oneach other.
Meet your neighbor if youhaven't met your neighbor yet,

(12:48):
and say hi to a coworker thatyou have not engaged with
recently or maybe schoolmate orwhatever.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
I just had a weird idea

Speaker 1 (13:00):
What

Speaker 2 (13:01):
This wasn't, um, planned, but hey, if you get a
chance, do some, uh, someValentine's hunting with people,
you know, doesn't have to belike giving them a a strange
Valentine's card, but blesspeople this month of February.
Find people that are battlingwith loneliness.
Find people that maybe have losta loved one recently or, or gone

(13:22):
through a tough time and find away to bless them.
Find a way, whether it's just atext, a call, or maybe a
tangible surprise, a sweet treat,

Speaker 1 (13:34):
Or a flower or whatever,, yes.
But we love you guys.
Thanks for listening as always,and we will be back soon.
Hey guys, thanks so much forlistening to the Puzzle Israel
podcast.
Please subscribe today and sharewith the friend.
See you soon.
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