When You Don’t Know A Friend’s Shoe Policy

Hey friends,

It’s June, which means IT’S SUMMER! The weather in Corpus Christi as of late has either been wonderful or miserable, and as of right now, at 12pm on a Tuesday, it’s gorgeous outside. I’m currently taking two summer school classes which is a bit much, mosquitos have become kind of a problem, so I’m sort of covered in bug bites right now, and the sweater I wore today is falling apart, but it’s all good for multiple reasons!

1. When it’s sunny, it’s the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen.
2. My roommates and I got a new, wonderful addition to our little home, Erin!
3. I’ve been writing so much music, and playing shows EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND.
4. There are gorgeous flowers sitting in a vase, next to my window.
5. I went riding on Sunday, with Stormy, and it rained, but it was okay, because I got to ride Radar, and he’s my favorite.

June has just started, and it’s already spoiling me rotten.

I’ve been thinking about this blog a lot lately. I try to push myself to be authentic as I can be, and not just post something because I feel like talking. It can be frustrating, because I want to be consistent with posting, to sound eloquent, to not put too many commas (which I do anyways), to not frequently make lists (which I do), and the never-ending battle of just wanting to be original (and hope that it’s entertaining).

But today I have things to say, and it’s about friendships.

I’m alright at being patient. But, when it comes to being patient by simply letting time pass, it’s the opposite. Specifically, when it comes to creating deep, meaningful, friendships with people. I’m fine at the initial meeting- establishing the very beginning of a friendship, and I think I’m good at being a close friend(I’m not sure, ask Abigail Holley)? But, you know what I can’t stand? The path from being new friends with someone to close friends. I absolutely detest having to wait to be “good friends” with whoever I’m spending time with. Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s not because I don’t like small talk, learning someone’s story, or anything of the sort. It’s the comfort that I crave. I love the ease of being able to show up at their house, fall onto a bed, and just talk. I can’t stand the slight discomfort of going to someone’s house for the first time. You don’t know where anything is, don’t know where to sit, how to act, or what their shoe policy is (like, is this a “no shoes on the carpet kind house or..”)

I digress.

When I moved to Corpus Christi, this was something I was kind of dreading. In result, something that became a constant request to Jesus was: “Help me find my people.”

Last night, I went over to my friend, Ashley’s house to see her and our other friend, Brooke. We like to lay and talk about our feelings, and that’s just what we did yesterday afternoon. These girls have loved me a lot this semester. Ashley is a listener and compassionate, and Brooke is encouraging and honest, and they never fail to show this to me every time I’m with them. Yesterday, there was a moment when I was sitting on the kitchen floor, and playing guitar. Ash was listening to me and giggling, because Brooke was cooking sweet potato fries and also talking to the tofu that she was about to cook, and I thought:

Man, this is great. This is what I’ve been so desperately wanting. This ease in being together.

Fast forward to this morning.

I read my Bible in the morning, and right now, I’m going through James. These mornings have also become a time that Kelly (my roommate) and I work on our Cognitive Psychology homework. Since this class is stressful, she’s started doing these devotionals with me. (It puts us at ease before we have to dive into how articulatory suppression effects our short-term memory, which is also the same as our working memory- but not entirely- it’s a lot, you get it.)

This morning was no different. We had a lab to finish, I’m in my oversized sweatpants, Kelly’s in her cloud robe (which is exactly what it sounds like), and we’re on our couch. We kept getting distracted because we had coffee, were giggling at Snapchat, and all that good stuff. But, before I knew it, Erin had emerged from her room, and joined us.

I start reading James 2:14-26, which talks about two things: Faith and deeds. In an extremely condensed summary, it says we need to put action to our faith, and the three of us started to talk about it, and what it means to us.

At this point, a sleepy Haley (the fourth addition to our house) had come downstairs, and curled up on our love seat. We were all together, it’s 8:15 in the morning, talking about Jesus, and just enjoying each other’s company. Then, there was the same thought:

Man, this is great. This is what I’ve been so desperately wanting. This ease in being together.

I’ve heard before that The Lord honors the desires of your heart, and dude, just look at this! He listens AND provides. He knows our hearts. Now, that is a comfort that is so undeniably satisfying.

Special thanks to my Heavenly Father, for giving me some wonderful people.

Oh, June, I love you.

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Please wear bug spray out there, you guys, my mom is so scared of the Zika virus.

-Tori