Friendships

I love good, encouraging, genuine friendships so much!

Today, I went out to lunch with some girls who I have started hanging out with a lot more lately, and we got to talking about my love life. Instead of trying to tell me what to do and passing judgments on my decisions, they were just genuinely curious about what was going on, but then responded with something like "oh, okay." I had almost forgotten how interested real friends are in each other's lives, yet accepting. They want to know what's going on because they want to know about me, but they know that they are not where I am and won't try to tell me what to do. Needless to say, that conversation, and that entire lunch, made me very happy.

This evening, I was in a small group environment with some seniors from my youth group, and we were taking turns talking about our spiritual gifts. One of mine was said to be "encouragement," and when asked what I thought of my supposed gifts, I decided to honestly say that I didn't really believe that I am encouraging at all. They were confused and disagreed with me and asked why, so I explained to them that a couple of my previously very close Christian friends had recently confronted me and told me that I make them feel bad about themselves when they are with me and that I do not make a very good friend. Obviously, having a couple of the people you know the very best tell you something like that would give you the impression that you are the exact opposite of an encouraging person. They told me straight out that these girls were not right. Just because you were really close with somebody doesn't mean that they know and understand you at all. Many agreed that I have encouraged them in their lives and their faiths and that I am a good friend. I was overjoyed to have people in my life who see all of me; they know my biggest flaws, fears, and mistakes, but manage to love me anyways and use all that to understand me more fully.

Finally, I was talking to one of my friends about how I have narrowed down my options of where I am going to school next year to two places, one of them the school she is attending. She responded with enthusiasm and love and told me it "would make her life" if I went to school with her. That's somebody who really wants to be friends with you and wants to be around you.

One thing I have learned recently is that good, real, genuine friends are not actually that hard to find. There are loving and accepting people everywhere, I was just never opening myself up to them before.

It feels so welcoming to have such stellar friendships.