Anyway, tomorrow big sis and I head down to Kentucky for a night or two with the grandparents before heading down to South Carolina to meet up with mom and dad for the rest of the week. We'll be in Columbia mostly, where I was born and my dad went to seminary, so we have a lot of close family friends down there that I haven't seen since I was in diapers. It should be fun. I'm sure it'll bring back memories of doing deputation trips in the car with the family when we were kids. David won't be able to be with us, which is a real bummer, but I'll get to see him for a day or two in KY. But Emily will be with us in SC the whole time, so that's cool. :-)
Other than that, I've been feeling really restless recently. I'm not sure why. Sometimes I get so frustrated at how small my world seems to be. The same places, the same people, the same drama, the same weather, the same routines.... On the one hand it kind of scares me to feel like that because I know it's part of life and it will be that way no matter where I go and I need to be content, but I can't help feeling it. I need a holiday. In a sense I guess it's nice that spring break is here and I'll get a change in scenery for a few days, but there seems to be a deeper restlessness in my heart that I'm not completely convinced will be fixed with a week long vacation...
And I know - I should take it to Jesus. And I have. And I do. And I will. Every day. But He doesn't always take away the struggle (in fact, it seems He rarely does) - sometimes He gives us the stamina to persevere in spite of it. That's more what it feels like now. Because He does give me strength, and I have persevered, and I am still seeking His face....who knows? Maybe this restless spirit is from Him??
Last of all (and somewhat along those lines), I have good news to report. :-) Throughout my last 3 years at Cornerstone, I have always considered my friends Ian and Nate to be my two closest guy friends. We were really close freshman year, especially, but even though I still see a lot of Ian, now Nate has a night job, so I've hardly seen him this whole year. Anyway, I was walking through the hall on Saturday and ran into him, and we actually ended up sitting down and talking for over 3 hours! Some of you may be wondering why this is shocking, but even though Nate and Ian and I were all very close at one time, we never really just talked. Ever.
Well, to make a long story short, Nate just really poured his heart out about how he had been convicted last semester and was tired of living a pseudo-Christian life, and about how he had made a commitment to God to turn his life around. Which is one thing to say, but as I listened, it became so clear how serious he was and how desperate he was to change. He had broken up with his girlfriend to better focus, had started attending church again, and was desperate for accountability and someone to listen and pray with.
Which, conveniently enough, was right where I was too. ;-) For almost a year I have been praying that God would put some serious Godly men into my life whom I could grow close to and be accountable to and grow with. I have lots of good guy friends, but no one like that. But as Nate and I talked, I really felt God tugging at my heart strings, and I got so excited.
After our talk, we both prayed and decided to start meeting 3 times a week for more prayer and some accountability and just general encouragement. It is something we both need a lot of right now. So we met 3 times last week, and every time we were only supposed to meet for an hour, but we ended up talking and praying for 2! I am truly overjoyed! :-)
But the coolest thing is that I have known Nate for the last 3 years, but after the last week of meeting with him, I have seen that he is a different man. Something has changed in him. From the music he listens to, to the movies he watches, to the way he spends his time, to his joy at talking about his relationship with Jesus, to his attitude to serve and his passion to embody humility, he has made 180 degree turns -- I have seen it, and I am praising God!
Thank you for answered prayer! :-)
2 comments:
This is fantastic! Transparent, honest friendships with like-hearted believers will change your life. I am so glad this is becoming a reality for you after three years at Cornerstone. Praising God with you, Derika
You comment about contentment was really interesting. My pastor at my home church just talked about it last week and how we can choose to have joy inspite of the cirumstances. He read from Philippians 4:10-13. It talks about how Paul "learned to be content..." and he said that "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." It was very helpful for me too because i often have a hard time being content for the things I do have. God has blessed me greatly and I often times forget that :) Thanks for the nice message!
Post a Comment