First of all, I apologize greatly for my absence over the last 10 months. After moving to Texas in late May, my life was in a constant form of uncertainty and distress. As with any change in life there is an adjustment period. My last 10 months have consisted of countless interviews, 3 jobs, several different educational plans, and plenty of confusion.
I won't say that through this time I have been the poster child for Christianity, but through all of my changes, I have found that God has been there waiting for me, calling me back to Him. Even when I have put my faith on the back burner because I was "too overwhelmed by life" to attend church or Bible Study, Jesus still loves me and patiently waits for me to realize my error in sidelining Him and welcomes me back with open arms.
A little background/update may be helpful in this situation. My long term boyfriend, Aaron, and I were fortunate enough to find a church the second weekend I moved to Texas. Being that I had only had one previous church of my own in Baltimore, I was very skeptical of finding a new church here in Texas. I felt that nothing could be better than the church my Christian life started in. They will always be my first church and have a special place in my heart. However, that is exactly what they were...MY church. As a young dating couple, starting our lives out on our own, we desperately wanted to find OUR church. Like I mentioned previously, we did find OUR church and God knew exactly what I needed in a new church to be able to smoothly transition from my church in Baltimore to my new one here in Temple. I remember on the first day we attended the 9:30 contemporary service at a Baptist church in our small town. There were enough similarities to my previous church that I felt at home from the moment we walked in, but there were also enough differences that we both (in our different walks with Christ) felt that this was a church we could grow into. We felt that they would challenge us to further our faith each and every week.
Over the last 10 months we have slowly started to become more involved in our new church, joining a weekly small group dinner and Bible Study for 20 somethings as well as a Sunday School class with some of the same people. It is through these small groups that we have made some good friends and have been challenged to explore our faith on a deeper level.
Tonight at our weekly dinner study, lovingly named "Hot MOMS (Meals On Mondays)", a comment was made by a peer that he strives to surround himself with those who's faith is stronger than his own. When he said that my mind immediately jumped to the saying that you will be as wealthy in five years as the people you surround yourself with today and you will be as intelligent in five years as the books you read today. Why wouldn't the same be true of our faith? We tend to surround ourselves with others who are like us. It's comfortable. No one is pushing the envelope, no one is challenging you to become a better person because everyone is in their comfort zone. I began to think about another comment that had been made to me about a year and a half ago from my mentor from my church in Baltimore. She said "in every person's faith they should be both a mentor to others and be mentored by others." I believe she used the term "faith sandwich" or something of the like.
Tonight I realized that one can never have too many friends with a stronger faith than you. I'd like to think I have a good friend, mentor, and motherly figure here in Texas that I can call or text on a daily basis for advice or just to talk. But tonight I thought about two other things. First that I am not mentoring anyone (hence the return to the blog) and second that as much as I love my Texas mentor, why should I stop at one. So this week I am going to try to reach out to other women in my life here who have a stronger faith (or are further in their walk with Christ) than I so that I can learn from as many Godly women as possible. Plus it will further help me get plugged in with my church. A true win-win!
I apologize for this being a little different than my previous blogs last year, but I felt the need to write this tonight. I think this time around I am going to add in a mix of journaling with my virtual Bible study posts. I pray that God truly will lead me. Lead me to the right strong Christian women. Lead me to the right verses to focus on in studying the word. And of course, lead me to the right choices that will help me live a godly life so that one day I can be a mentor to younger women.
