#10 - Lauren / Allie / Jordan

These are some of my favorite girls in the world. When I'm down, they don't even ask about it- they can tell, and just being with them cheers me up. No, they're not Christians, but they're willing to listen when I'm struggling with my faith. Sometimes with my youth group friends I feel like I have some sort of apperance to keep up because sometimes it feels like I'm competing for some sort of position [I don't understand it but that's how it feels sometimes], and that makes it hard to let people know when things aren't going too well. I can tell these three about my doubts and fights and they understand, and believe it or not they give me GREAT advice [and since they're not believers, if I'm not honest and pretend my Christian walk is just a walk in the park, what does that look like?]. If you read #9 [Brittany], you heard about a time last winter / spring when we weren't on the best of terms. That drew me away from Emily and Kassie, and when I felt myself falling it was Allie who helped me write it out, Jordan who got me to laugh it off and Lauren who reminded me that we're all people and were made to help each other. It was during that time that I shared the gospel with them, and for about two weeks straight they were getting closer and closer to a relationship with Jesus, and in turn I was getting stronger too. I don't know whether or not they actually got saved, though, a lot of stuff happened then that I'd rather just forget so let's just move on...

Basically, I've been praying daily for these three girls, some of my closest friends who've been there through it all, since about Banished 2005. They've taught me everything I know about witnessing, especially how crucial it is that you don't push it too hard and turn them away completely. They've reinforced that great lesson that Anistasia and Hillary taught me- people are generally good. Yes, they're the kind of people who don't particularly care about offending a Christian with what they say and do, and it definitely hurts when they blatantly ignore and / or put down faith, but I don't see that as a reason to stop being friends with them. They care about me and that's what really matters in a friendship, plus I have more fun with them than you can imagine. They've taught me that, ultimatley, saving a soul is NOT my responsibility. I have shared the gospel and hopefully I'll get to do it again, but only God can convince someone to actually have a relationship with Him. All I can do is praypraypray and pray some more, and share when I think it's God's will, but He's got the plan, not me. So long as I keep praying [and meaning it with all my heart], since the persistent prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, I really do believe that God will bring them in in His time. Maybe it'll be next time I share what I know, maybe they'll meet someone in college who can do what I couldn't, maybe it won't be for fifty years. It's not mine to decide. They've taught me to trust God 100% and realize that all I can do is rely on Him and be the kind of friend that He was.