Well, I kind of forgot that I had this blog! Really who is reading it anyway :) Sadly, though, after all this time, I can't think of anything great to say. Not that I did before... God gives great insights all the time, and I love when He gives me things like that. He has done it so much, but unfortunately, I feel like I enjoy it in the moment, and then I have to be re-taught the same thing over and over again. That is life... for me, anyway.
I will say how grateful I am to have the friends I have in life. I find it hard to be grateful sometimes, which is ridiculous, because I know that I have an infinite amount of things to be grateful for. But, even so, I am still so selfish and often miss the most important things. Anyway, lately, God has let me realize how much He has blessed me by giving me such great friends. I have always had a lot of friends from different areas of life... growing up, church, college, sports, etc. Now, I have friends in Charleston and new friends I've made since moving back to Augusta.
Soon before I left for college, I remember praying that God would give me Christian friends, as sort of an accountability. I knew it was easy to lose sight of Him away from home in a new, fun, more independent place, so I prayed that He would give me good friends to keep me on track. And looking back, I can't believe how clearly He answered that prayer. Not only in college did I have good Christian friends, but ever since then, I have never had a shortage. Even some the friendships I had growing up have become more strongly based on Christ. And now, of course, I have my Charleston friends to add to that list. When I lived in Charleston, I never knew a group of young people existed like that. I had never been around a group of people so genuinely seeking Christ whole-heartedly. It was and is still such an encouragement. Don't get me wrong, I have friends who are not Christians, and these are some great friendships, too. I am grateful for them! But, there is something extra-special about friendships that are grounded in Christ. Not just two Christians who are friends... but two friends who talk about and encourage each other's spiritual growth. That is serious friendship :)
I just realized how great these friendships are last weekend when I went to Charleston for New Years. Before we went to bed each night, Molly and I sat down and she read to me some excerpts from a new book of hers, "Hope." We talked about our faith and our struggles and our hopes and our good times. Then, we both started reading our favorite scriptures to each other. It was so encouraging. I don't have many friends I have been that open about my faith with, but I am SO grateful for this part of friendship. It is so comforting to have friends who share the same beliefs and the same desires as far as living for Christ goes.
So I guess I had something to write about after all.
I really love my friends! I hope not only that we remain friends, but I hope the friendships grow. This is truly my prayer for my friends:
"I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light, so that you can understand the wonderful future He has promised to those He called."
Ephesians 1:17-18
By the way, most of my friends don't even know what a blog really is, so they definitely aren't reading this...I guess that means I'll have to tell them in person how much their friendship means, haha. But for the ones who do and can read this, I love you :)
