Last year in October I started this blog. I started it after I prayed the dangerous prayer that whatever God saw fit to remove and/or bring into my life, that He would do it. It was also after that prayer that I knew it was time to quit Facebook (for seven months)...when I got more into Twitter and Instagram...when some friendships ended and new ones begun...when I really started getting more involved in my new church family...and when I started living my life and relationships more intentionally and chronicling those experiences here on my blog.
In my very first entry I wrote about my fun filled vacation to visit my best friend, Emily in New York. It was a fun entry but I couldn't let it slip that she and Steven were expecting their first child together. That was a hard secret to keep in! The news of Albert (not yet born at that time) came as a shock to me. I was used to most of my friends being married and some even had kids, but Emily and Steven had always been just Emily and Steven. I wasn't quite sure how this would change our relationship. Then on May 31st, Albert Gregory came into the world and honestly, he has enriched Emily and I's friendship. It's hard to describe, but I cannot for the life of me picture a world without him in it. If you're single and your friends are either getting married or having babies and you're worried that it will change the friendship and that they won't need you any longer, that is not true. If they're good friends, they will still include you in their lives. Yes, it will be different, but don't give up on them and the friendship. They are going through one of the biggest changes of their lives and need your support and understanding more than ever.
I mentioned above that God brought new relationships into my life and that would be from my new church home, Immanuel Lutheran. This was far beyond the best decision God lead me to make. I was an attendee of an non-denominational church for four years since I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to follow in my family's footsteps and become a Lutheran. The Sunday I turned 26 I decided that it might be a good idea to check out a local Lutheran church and give it a try. I found Immanuel and never left! It's there that I have met some of the most amazing mentors and made solid friendships. One of my greatest joys was sharing to a co-worker about my new church family and watching her make the decision to also become a member! I encourage you to find a solid Bible teaching church and either join or attend regularly and make those same solid relationships. Being that my family is not on this side of the state, it has helped me still have that family atmosphere.
One of my mentors at church told the story of her divorce during one of the Bible studies I attended last year. After she was done, we thanked her for sharing since it must be hard to do. I'll never forget how she responded that God had healed her enough now that she can share it like she was "describing a bag of chips" to us. She had completely moved on from the hurt and pain and accepted her new life and the blessings God brought into it (she had remarried a wonderful man). During the course of this past year, God decided to remove a few relationships from my life. Life is messy. I don't always know what God is doing in my life when painful circumstances like these happen. It's hard to trust that He is doing a good work in my life. That's why I decided to have a vinyl of my favorite verse (Psalms 27:13-14) made and put it on the wall in my bathroom to see every day because one day, I'll be able to talk about my hurts like I was "describing a bag of chips." Jesus never said life with Him would be easy, but He did say that He'd always be there to help us through.
As writing relationships go, I met bloggers Amy Kessler and Lisa Anderson at Pursuit 2014 and what encouragement I got from them! It's because of Lisa's transparent message at Pursuit that allowed me to acknowledge God's grace in my life when I fail or when relationships sour. It brought me peace. And Amy! The fact that she loves cats and that we found out that we shared the same internship program in DC was thrilling enough! Then she offered (and continues) me some great writing tips. What a fantastic and memorable weekend that was for me!
Oh and let's not forget the wonderful and talented concert that I got to go to with Bethany: NICKEL CREEK! Ahhh!
And to you, the reader, thank you so much for reading my blog! Thank you for hanging in there with me when I was just learning the ropes (still am!). My main goal is still to inspire and encourage you to build a meaningful relationship with God and others. I hope to continue blogging for a long time to come and that I build relationships with people through this blog.
-A
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