Friends

This week I've had the opportunity to hang out with a few friends from different parts of my life. On Tuesday Michael and I hung out with a good friend from college who I was also on summer staff with for two summers. He told me sometimes he reads my blog, which shocked me because I didn't know anyone did, and so I thought I'd give him a shout out. You know who you are!

Then on Friday I got to see a really good friend from my very first summer on summer staff. She was my "twin" that summer. EVERYONE called us by each other's name, and we were just super close! I haven't seen her since my wedding, (which she sang in) and it was fun to see her and her husband of just over a year. She's one of those people that although we don't talk super often, I know we will always have a special in each other's hearts, and every time we see each other it's just like where we left off.

On Friday I also spent time with another summer staff friend from a different summer. It made me realize that some of my closest friends, or at least meaningful and life-giving relationships began at Twin Rocks.

To top it all off, today I spent time with a close friend from college. I haven't seen her in quite a while. Her and her husband are raising financial support right now to head to Tanzania soon to work with a Bible Translation organization and to work in an orphanage. I was soooooo blessed by our conversation and the few hours we spent together. God is so obviously guiding their steps toward this lifetime ministry in Africa. I came to tears repeatedly as she shared how God has been faithful through all the doubts, fears, changes.

I have had many experiences where I've been blessed with meeting and befriending Godly people. I am learning that I am pretty bad at keeping in touch with people, but I try. And I'm learning that I can't keep in touch with every single person that I want to, but that through these every-once-in-a-while meetings I can experience a little more of the community that we are created for. I am so thankful for friendships where God blesses me through others.

Priorities

Maybe it's because I'm now in the world of education (as a career), but I've found myself really worked up about how much money ISN'T spent on education, and is spent on other priorities in America, such as fast food, military, and pets (to name a few).

I am loving my classes and found myself actually thinking to myself the other day, "I can't imagine myself NOT teaching." I feel like God has continued to stir in me a passion for working in a high school setting, working with students and faculty that have so many needs: emotionally, spiritually, educationally.

All this to say, I read this quote the other day and couldn't have said it better myself:

"It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber."

Thoughts?

Unashamed?

Yesterday in one of my classes I was sharing with a partner the answers to questions on the overhead:

Who am I?
How do I describe myself?
Who do people who know me well think I am?
What is important for people to know about me?

My partner and I both said that we tend to be perceived as shy or quiet when we are in new settings. We come across very serious at times, but can "let our hair down" and have a lot of fun too. I have surprised myself how much I take on the observing role in new situations. I used to see myself as so much more out-going. I still see myself as out-going, but it tends to be more when I'm with people I'm at least somewhat comfortable with (not strangers.)

One of the other things I said that was important to me was my faith and relationship with Christ. I was surprised at how nervous I was to share this with another student. Not that I was embarassed, but it was not comfortable to just sit there and talk about it. Actually, as soon as I said that, it opened the door for a ten-minute theology and faith talk.

I am learning how to immerse myself more and more into the secular world, in this case the world of public education, without comprimising who I am and what I stand for. Not that my beliefs are changing, but i haven't had too many experiences where I've really had to verbalize my faith to a person who doesn't have the same Christian Vocab that I do. I think we'd all love to say that we would be unashamed and proclaim boldly to anyone who asks us about our faith, but I'm here to say that it's not as easy as it sounds. I definitely look up to and admire those who can speak so naturally in any setting about Christ.

I hope and pray that I am working towards that a little more every day.