Well, this summer has been a surprise, I have to say. Already it's so unexpected. The things I only half hoped for have probably been the best parts so far. And the things which should have come unexpectedly, caught me off guard--the sorts of things one finds out on Facebook--are the exact ones I just kind of knew before they happened. I am surprised because I should have been surprised, but it was like someone told me while I was sleeping and I just woke up knowing what was coming.
And I look at the last two weeks since Rockbridge--has it been that long? But then I feel well into summer already. It sounds weird, but I think I'm going to end up associating being hot and sweaty and icky with boys. All growing up and through high school I spent most of my time with boys. My babysitter had all nephews and I had a brother, so it was always me and them playing in the yard, playing with matchbox cars, up in trees. With the exception of my first best friend, most of my closest friends have been boys--I don't know what it is, but it was always easier with them. I just get on better with them. Less social expectations and more running and jumping and playing outside? I don't know.
But then came college. And there are a fair deal more women than men on this campus. It's particularly evident in InterVarsity, in our chapter, where we've always outnumbered the boys about eight to one. So then came drama, then came all kinds of things I never knew about, but then the relationship is totally different. I'm thinking about my closest friends now, and they're girls and it's so good and I imagine being close to my mom or having had sisters might have been like this. It's having these friends who are girls and you encourage each other, you lead each other to more of Christ, you call each other out when you need to know you get mad at one person and take it out on everyone and that you really need to work on that, and you hold each other when you lose the things neither of you thought you might ever not have. It's good.
With guys--with my friends from State down this summer--well, I don't think about it too much anymore until summer rolls around, but it's like going home being with them. I'm hanging out with the sort of old friend I'll always know until the end of it all, and I'm hanging out with new friends, these crazy boys who are just all boy, it's so refreshing. But they're all also just seeking after God like he's all there ever was. And I can't possibly imagine better company for this part of the summer and here I am leading up to Romania but I'm not counting my days, I'm not living for them. It's now, and I'm so glad for it. The school year is girls, but then May comes along and it gets humid and warm and everything changes and the summer is boys.
And you know, another thing I wasn't expecting at all is that I've managed to end up in an Evangelism class with them. It's so funny. That would happen. For reasons still unknown to me, God really has me here, has me with this. I keep saying it, but who knew? Who would have ever guessed? And here I am, all these familiar things mixed in with the things I hadn't been looking for, and I know that things really do get hard, but I also know that they are good and God is good, and you remember that joy he promised you? In so much more than you might have expected--here it is.
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