Ain't nobody messing with my clique

 

 

Today was no ordinary day. I was woken up by the sweet voice of my best friend Amy. She had driven down to visit me for the day and had my sister make arrangements so that I would have no idea. As I sat in bed shocked, excited and slightly embarrassed that I slept past 10...I thought about how blessed I was to have a friend who wanted to surprise me with a 'day of yay'. I immediately got ready and we hit the mall, our favorite Mexican restaurant and then finished the day with pedicures. When we arrived home from our play-date together, my pastor was at the house. My heart was warm and light - it was the first time in a long time that I was surrounded by two of my very favorite people, other than family members. I began to explain to my pastor how Amy and I met. We met at a Virginia Synod event in the tenth grade. We were in the same small group at a retreat called Kairos - a week long camp committed to enriching your faith, forming lasting friendships and teaching you a thing or two about yourself. Amy and I have stayed close friends through the years, along with the rest of my church camp clique. There are about 9 of us that have stayed in touch over the years, celebrating Christmas, beach week and New Years together every year. We have a bond that is unbreakable...and I never really thought about why until today. Our friendships were formed due to a firm foundation in Christ. We all met at Virginia Synod events - learning about the ways in which God performs miracles and helps us through our worries and struggles. This group of people were the first to find out about my mom's diagnosis. I'm embarrassed to say I texted them about what was going on...but there was no way I could explain to 9 different people over the phone what had happened. For my birthday all of them came down to visit me and my family. Nothing means more than your best friends driving from all over, leaving their super fun universities, to spend a weekend in a rehabilitation center with you and your family. I've truly been blessed.

In my devotion book, the passage for today comes from 2 Peter 1:3-8,10. I'm telling you...there must be a God...this passage illustrates that God has given us the tools to succeed, no matter the circumstance. There is a blurb in my book that talks about St. Augustine's phrase of "without God, we cannot. Without us, God will not". This is surprisingly true. Everything is more complicated without God. Trust me, I've tried to fight him being in my life for the past 4 months and it hasn't gotten me anywhere. Without God I wouldn't have my core group of friends that keep me sane. I wouldn't have near death experiences of driving through Rodanthe after a rain storm... or scavenger hunts that lead to hilarious stories like 'the man in the van'...or a weekend of Zac Brown Band, birthday cake and thousands of pictures with sorority signs. These people have helped shape me into the person I am today...and they would not be a part of my life if I had not attended church or youth events.

My favorite part of the devotion is this, "Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone." Why is this my favorite? Because I don't understand what it really means.

moral excellence - knowledge - self control - patient endurance - godliness - brotherly affection - love for everyone

In looking through this dissected list of words I've become disappointed. I lack self-control and patient endurance completely. I'm the worst person in a doctor's office, after a test or on Christmas morning because I want to have answers, I want to know what's next. I'm a terrible waiter. I have a vast amount of knowledge that I use from time to time...but I don't have enough about the Bible or God. I do not have moral excellence, because I frequently make mistakes. We all do. Can anyone claim to have moral excellence? I'm not so sure. Can anyone be godly but God? Again, I do not have all the answers. Brotherly affection is relatively simple...but really challenging at the same time. If someone has wronged me, I don't treat them with the same respect I treat my friends. Is this wrong? I've been taught not to be a doormat...but there must be a happy medium I have yet to figure out. I assume this is where forgiveness comes in and I'm not yet prepared to write about that. 'Love for everyone' is another phrase that doesn't sound as hard as it is.What I'm hoping is that God expects us to grow over time. This is a sequence of events that we should all work towards throughout our life on Earth. I think of it like we're on a train, making frequent stops. The train is a continuous loop that runs day and night gaining and losing passengers at each stop. The more we strive to become better Christians, the more knowledge we will gain about the Lord and His good works. God has given us the tools to succeed and to love one another - it's up to us to carry out His will.