I’m not really one for girl stuff
or spending large amounts of time with just girls, it can get overwhelming, but
it ended up being a great time with some really encouraging conversation. I had the special privilege
of going to pick up my best friend from college. What makes it better is that
she had no idea I was coming! It was so much fun and well worth the drive.
The ride back was especially
enjoyable. We got to catch up and then we joined in a conversation with her mom
and friend who came along for the ride. I appreciated the opportunity to listen
and talk. After talking I realized there is so much I have to learn, and yet
even these women would say they have not arrived yet either.
Also earlier this week I was able
to join in on another good conversation, my family’s small group. It was so
good to learn from and talk with these friends. I am so thankful to be home and
for this part of my Family here.
Its
interesting how even just these routine conversations can turn a day or a week
around, They change a perspective and give encouragement for a new start.
In
today’s conversation we talked about how when we do work, the heart motive is
what matters. On one side, that is so scary. I can think of many occasions when
I just do what needs to be done, regardless of the attitude behind it. However
on the flipside, when everything seems to go wrong we can trust that our
hearts were in the right place and know that’s what matters regardless of the
outcome. That can turn your day around! I recognize that it’s not about
going through the motions and that motivates me, yet I find encouragement in what
seem to be failures if I did it with the right heart attitude.
In
our group talk we mentioned something John wrote about. On our own we can do
nothing. Like the branch of grapes, we can only produce fruit when we are
attached to the vine. That attachment is how we should live each moment and
make each decision. We have to day by day, and moment by moment develop that
attachment to the vine.
We
were also talking about pride and learning to be teachable. I would love to
just stop that point of discussion there as if it was not a problem for me or I
can do it that easily; but I cannot claim either of those. I love to talk, and
when I’m talking I don’t hear what others are saying, which means I don’t
learn. It’s hard to swallow being teachable, because that means swallowing the horse
pill of pride and admitting I don’t know it all, and learning from the voices
of experience and wisdom.
It’s easy to get caught up in the
usual life stuff and miss out on what’s really important. It’s not just some
good tips for a trip to Asia; these are lessons I really need to grasp for life. As I
prepare for this trip however, I realize even more how much I have to learn.
Isn’t it cool that those little
conversations in our lives can seem so unimportant, yet it’s those moments when
you’re driving down the road with a friend that something you’ve been Reading about all of a
sudden begins to click. It’s like a light turns on, and there is a transfer
from words on a page to life.
