Thankful for Deliberate Friendships

In this season of being thankful, I think back to my younger days in my youth.    There are so many things that I can now see God totally planned perfectly during this time in my life.

Lately I have really been thinking about friends from church and youth group.  I have a son who is in middle school and two daughters that are at the end of their elementary years.  My kids are entering the age of ‘youth group’ at church.  Those years may not be the pinnacle of everything perfect you must have as a youth, but I do look back and see the importance of all of my friends—especially in THAT time of my life.  What a sweet, awesome, beautiful blessing.  I had several different friends in different stages of my youth at church and these were people that seemed to always be a steady backbone in the blurry craziness of life in school, family and all that comes with that!

I would say I had a pretty quiet life in a home where I was loved by my parents and always knew it.  When I was a child, I was quite shy and like most kids—trying to feel my way around those awkward Middle School Years.   Friends were essential.  Of course I had my ‘best’ friend, Shawn from First grade on.  She would come with me to various Church events and trips in late elementary school.  We hung out pretty solid.  She was a gracious gift from God for me.

As time went on, I became friends with several girls at church.  Many went to other schools.  This was great.  If you had a bad week at school, they did not know anything about it and you could just pick up and enjoy youth group events.  This totally made those things feel minor! 

As a freshman, I entered Youth Choir.  Now, I had been in kids’ Choir for years—really non-stop since age 5, I think.  Youth Choir was great because you were able to interact with even more kids.   Many of my friends entered right along with me. It was fun and we could be social and go on the infamous ‘Choir Tour’ at the beginning of the summer.  Sunday nights after church were sometimes spent going to eat together, or deciding who had parents that would host us over at their house!

Those years in Youth Choir were great for me.  I not only had some great friends that were girls but also some great friends that were guys, too.  There was a group of friends when I was a 9^th grader that would include me and really give me a hard time.  It was all fun pleasant ‘ribbing’ and only encouraged me to dish it back.  Well, I should say the girls always had my back, but the guys liked to give me a hard time as the ‘Rookie’ choir member.  We would all laugh until our sides split.  Many of these in this crew were older and graduated on out in the coming years.  Only to have more funny and crazy (but good kids) guys and girls move on in to Youth Choir and youth group in general.

These are kids who learned about Jesus right along with me, then were Believers right along with me as we ventured through youth at church together.  I could relax and feel safe with these friends.  I could be goofy or have a tough day and these are people that would not skip a beat. (Sometimes they just ignited with more sarcasm with a smile….but that would usually just bring on the laughter) 

There is something so beautiful and deliberate about this.  God always knew WHO I needed in my life RIGHT when I needed it the most.  These are kids and friendships that helped me grow. What a complex time in my life but yet I can see the ebb and flow of God’s design for me in the form of friendships.

 

It is my constant prayer that as my kids grow, they will have friends in youth group like these.  I see the importance of it and want the same for my kids.  I can still see “to everything there is a season…” in that part of my life.  That season was great for me and I will cherish it!  I will always have a soft spot for my friends from the ‘old days’ in youth group and Youth Choir.  I am so grateful for those friendships.  So cheers to you guys—you all know who you are, for putting up with my crazy jokes, sarcasm, goofy antics and just hanging out with me.  You really were a blessing in my life!  Thank you.

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

(“Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.”)

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1, King James and Good News Translation

With Joy,

Tracey

Pink Lizzard Designs

Can You Imagine Fear?

Yesterday was Halloween and I hope you had a happy one!  It is funny this time of year when we all get a kick out of spooky things.  My kids each have different personalities when it comes to being scared.

My oldest, the Honey Badger, is now very casual about being scared and scary movies.  He has always enjoyed some scary things, starting young with an obsession with Scooby Doo.  Honey Badger has now moved on but would still enjoy a thriller even though he is “over” trick-or-treating.

My middle child, the Comedienne, loves being scared and thrills even though she is the most quiet of the bunch.  It does seem to make sense as she has the crazy sense of humor and can totally take a joke.  Comedienne likes to plot to play jokes and will aggravate her younger sibling by jumping out to scare her.

My youngest, the Feisty-Smiley One,  does not like to be scared, does not like very scary or spooky movies, and prefers to go upstairs with someone else this time of year.  Enough said.

Upon the chance to secretly deliver ‘Boo Bags’ to neighbors houses recently, Honey Badger passed on the adventure.  The girls were eagerly jumping up and down at the chance to deliver a small sack of Halloween nonsense to unsuspecting friends.  If you are unfamiliar, ‘Boo Bags’ are whatever you want to throw in a sack—cool candies, trinkets, candles—and take at dark to a friend’s house.  You secretly leave the bag, ring the doorbell and RUN so you are not busted as the Boo Bag deliverer.    Then that person should head out the next night and pay the favor on another friend and it goes on!  So they load up and head out.  I hear that when they make a run for the car, Feisty-Smiley One will just push sister out of the way and get herself in the car as fast as she can.  She is out of breath and semi-shaken.  Comedienne arrives in the car…cool as a cucumber and laughs quietly.  I think we will have to keep our eye on this one!

So that brings me to fear and how we handle it.  This stuff is all fun and games but how many of us really experience fear?  I was reading a post from a friend of a friend.  Her dad is going through a terrible battle with cancer.  He told her he could not sleep the other night and it was hard to catch his breath.  I have only experienced this really once (slightly) and it was terrifying, but I am not facing the same health struggles.  I can’t imagine how he felt. 

She goes on and explains the next part and it just hit me hard.  During this fearful episode, he began to talk out loud to the Lord.  Then he prayed Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Wow.  So many things flooded into my mind.  During this scary, fearful struggle, he calls out and claims his faith and trust in the Lord.  He is comforted by the victory of GRACE.  Her dad knows that the One who gave the biggest sacrifice for him knows his pain and will comfort him. 

She continues and explains he was really grateful for knowing scripture and her continued prayer request is that he will be able to keep his heart rate under control while going through treatment.  I sat with tears in my eyes.  I was so moved.  More than ever I feel I need to arm not only myself, but my children with the gift of a library of verses to help them through life’s struggles.  Sure, they memorize verses but what about verses they can use as swords against fear?  What about verses to light their path?  What about verses to shield from indecision or controversy?   Well, I have lots to do, Ladies and Gentleman!  I thank God for people who share their struggles with others and how the Lord speaks to them or comforts them.  So many times, they don’t realize how much they make a difference.

Hope your Halloween was not so scary!  May the Lord comfort you today!

With Joy,

Tracey