Learning

What a sweet gift friendship is. Friendship allows us to share in the suffering, sacrifice, and service that Christ went before us and lived out here on earth.

I am loving being back in Blacksburg and at Virginia Tech, more than anything, because of my friendships here. The funny thing is, my friendships here have honestly been the hardest friendships I have had. Hard meaning that despite how much we have in common or our shared beliefs, we have disagreements and disappointments we have had to battle through. It has been difficult and tested my faith, but the Lord again and again has proved faithfu

l, and has taught me SO much about myself and about him through it all.

Already this semester some reoccurring sins from last year in my life as well as friends have festered. We have been consciously working through them with prayer and scripture and I am in awe of how the Lord has been working. First off, he never ceases to make EVERY aspect of our lives work together for good. I say that meaning school work, class lectures, conversations, sermons, bible studies, personal reading, everything lately he has been working together for good. In both my roommates and my own life we have seen these common themes reoccurring of things we know the Lord is pruning out of our own lives. It has been so humbling. Second, the Lord has used our disagreements, disappointments, and conversations to teach each of us so much about ourselves. I can honestly say I have learned more about myself in the past month than I have in a very long time. A late night conversation with one of my roommates last night has brought this all fresh to mind. She began telling me about her weekend and how she has struggled to "feel" like she fit in, and had a group of friends to identify. More than anything she was confessing that inst

ead of talking to others and reaching out in love she stayed in her mind and 'ignored' those around her. While she spoke I felt the Holy Spirit gently convicting my heart. I had never, ever, before realized that those times when I 'psychologically escape' from situations I am being completely selfish. Who am I to say because of a boring topic of conversation, or other things on my mind, I should just ignore those around me? This is just one of the many things the Lord has brought out of my sinful nature through talking to my sweet roommates. I love love it. He is using us in such a beautiful way to sanctify each of us individually. I love that we are not seeing this happen in our lives, "...always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.(2 Timothy 3:7 )" And instead we are working to..."Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.(2 Timothy 3:14 )"