I have been blessed with some wonderful, satisfying friendships in the past few years. However, growing up, I went through some rocky roads to navigate friendship in my teenage years. During my childhood I was very shy. Yet, I had a close circle of friends in grade school. When I was in 6th grade, my family moved from our small town to a city over an hour away. That was a big deal back in a day when cell phones didn't exist and the only thing a 12 year old girl had to stay connected to her friends was AOL and dialup...or snail mail!
It was hard to lose my friends from grade school--we lost touch eventually. Being so shy, I had a hard time connecting with my new classmates. What had I done in elementary school that caused me to have a good group of close friends? How could I apply that to now? The school was a K-8 so all the girls had known each other since birth practically and I was the odd duck on the block.
Then came high school with the same questions, only I was older. I didn't fit in with my peers because I was the "church girl" which warranted me no close friendships. Nonetheless, I was still very well liked. During these years my family started attending a new church. I thought because it was church it was a safe place and that I should automatically make friends with ease. Not so.
There was the initial "new kid on the block" reaction which quickly wore off after a few weeks. Again, I felt like I didn't fit. I blamed it on my shyness. I blamed it on my wardrobe--I didn't dress pretty enough. I blamed it on not being thin enough. I tried to solve this problem of why I didn't have friends. So many times I was left out of events and activities. Countless times I was pushed aside.
I had no friends. But I had JESUS. I began to know Him. To really know Him. As my father, my beloved, and my Friend. He began to teach me things and I began to question Him less. The road was still long and it wasn't easy having little to no friends, but through it, God taught me to find love, affirmation, and fulfillment--things we all need--through Him alone.
Then, God began bringing special people into my life to be my friend. Each friend He brought was very different from the others, but all were special in their own regard. Around this time, I discovered Christine Hoover's blog, Grace Covers Me. She wrote a lot about faith, love, being a pastor's wife, and friendship. This really appealed to me as I had become close to a pastor's wife at that time and wanted to be a blessing to her in our friendship. I started reading Christine's blog and subscribing to it. I felt so encouraged by everything she wrote, regardless of the topic. Recently she has been blogging more about friendship and will actually be releasing a book soon!!! I have been chosen to read and review her new book, Messy Beautiful Friendship. I am so excited to read and share my thoughts!
I have learned a lot about friendship over the years, and from what I have learned about Christine Hoover, she has learned a lot too. As I read through the book I will be sharing what I learn along the way. If you have ever struggled with friendship or want to learn more about friendship and being a good friend, I highly recommend ordering Christine's book, Messy Beautiful Friendship. You can order it from her website www.gracecoversme.com or Amazon. I'm currently reading the third chapter and I already can't put it down!!
Blessings to you as you walk and grow in God.
