I'm laying in bed, listening to Willie and Waylon. I'd have to disagree with them, though. Mama's, it's okay to let your babies grow up to be cowboys.
Anyhoo, it's not often that I have time to put time into my blog so I'll do it tonight.
My few weeks working with the youth at HPUMC has been such a blessing. Even though I wasn't in high school that long ago, talking with my girls, hearing their struggles and joys makes me realize how much I've grown and how good God is to us.
So the study we're doing now is called "The Social Network" and we're basing our discussions on the people around us and how they affect our relationship with Christ. When we take a moment to stop and think about what drives us through our daily lives, our friends and other relationships are often crucial to that motivation. That doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing as long as God is at the center of those friendships.
Tonight hit me a little bit harder because we talked about dating and relationships and how we put ourselves into "that world." I think I used to worry about dating someone on my same level socially. I wasn't worried so much about what that person thought about me and how he made me feel but I was worried about what other people thought when they saw us and how he could make me seem a whole lot cooler than I really am. That's not to say I dated horrible people in high school or wasn't genuine in my intentions, but those intentions came from the wrong place...
One of my friends told me a disturbing story the other day. She said she was talking to a new friend and mentioned the fact that she remained single throughout college. He promptly said, "Oh, you're one of those girls." Is that really where our value comes from? Whether we date in college or not? I must be waaaaay down on the cool ladder.
I'm so glad God has led me in the direction He has because He's forced me to look at myself when I'm at both my best and my worst and find out who I really am beneath all my obnoxious smiles. I've become so much more comfortable with that person and less worried about finding someone who will improve my social status. God's showing me how important it is to find someone who just makes me want to be a better person and pursue Him first.
Certainly, it takes patience and y'all know that anxious feeling I talked about last blog? Yeah, I have to try really, really hard not to get worked up about what God has in store for my relationships. I've got a whole lot of growing and learning to do but I've already made so much progress with the friends and mentors I have here at SMU.
So a thought for ya before I nod off:
Look forward to culminating the relationships you currently have and know God will probably send someone new whom you may need...or who may need you. We're here to walk together and I have to say, my friends have some pretty strong arms because they've pulled me out of some pretty deep, dark holes over the last few years. So if any of y'all read this, thank you, thank you, thank you. You've shown me boundless love and remind me daily of how blessed I am.
I'll let God have the last word:
"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."
--Romans 12:9-12
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