friends

I consider one of God's greatest gifts to be friends. Ask me a few years ago what great gifts God gives (wow, that was great alliteration) and friends wouldn't have been one of them. Maybe it would have been a good job or the infamous answer of family, but definately not friends. I mean, who wants someone to know about your pitfalls, your weaknesses, your core...what really makes up you? Why burden other people with that? They have enough things to worry about. Anyways, then they would see how I am not perfect, am every bit human, and need help.

We all need help. There is God who is always there to help us...but one way he does that is through friends. It has taken me a long while to realize this. For instance, most of you know me casually by way of work or church. We see each other around every now and again and might even hang out once and a while...but do we really know each other? Most sunday evenings my roomies and I have people over to our house for great hang time. One sunday someone said to me they felt out of place because they didn't really know anybody. I responded by saying I was in the same boat. For those of you who come on a regular basis, this may seem a little odd because most everyone that comes over to my house, I know them. But, I dont really KNOW them. And, for that matter, they don't really KNOW me.

Most of us put on a facade...a facade that gets you through life. Like me, I tend to be the one to speak my mind (sometimes too much!). I will always be the one to go to if you want to hear the truth. Don't ask me if I like your outfit because I might very well tell you NO! But beyond the petty stuff...I bet most of you know the funny me. The me that puts people on the spot. The me that might say comments with a bit of sarcasm. The me that enjoys to laugh. Many of times I've used the funniness, the jokes, the sarcasm to actually take the focus OFF me. You might think it's focusing on me, but really, it's not. It's a tactic I use so you can't see what's on the inside. Just look around...everybody does it in their own way.

It's just been recently that I've been able to let people see the real me. I've always been afraid they would look down on me for my weaknesses. The problem wasn't with other people...it was with me. I was the one that couldn't accept my faults. Rob's sermon really touched my heart last sunday. No matter who we are or what we've done, God accepts us...loves us unconditionally. Now I can look back and see how I've kept myself from being involved in things because I didn't feel I was good enough. How could I teach others about Christ if I've done bad things? We ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...The beauty of it is God can use dirty me to do his beautiful works and bring more people to him. The even cooler thing is he doesn't see me as dirty...he sees me as his pure beautiful daughter.

Don't get me wrong, I will always like a good laugh, but I really want to get to KNOW people, too. If we humble ourselves and help each other out, more things can happen in his glory!