Last night on a whim, I thrust myself on James’ social calendar at the last minute. And eight hours later, I realized that it was one of the best things I could have done . . . as well as that giving a ten dollar tip to a waiter can really open some doors. It’s a strange experience when you’re talking to someone and you realize that they’ve just agreed with you, and they’re a boy? And you think, Wow, really? You’re not going fight me on this? That’s a little fabulous. 
The bad part is that I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep and that I have a lot of work to do today. I’m desperately in need of a good scrubbing on my house and getting a head start on my French homework because I’m going out of town this weekend. I’m really excited to see Josie. I absolutely love where she’s from, as well as her. We have a strange friendship probably. We met in 1999 at college and after a semester she switched schools. I think I’ve seen her maybe five times since then, but every time I get together with her, it’s as if all the time in between just melts away and she’s still the girl who lives downstairs from me in my dorm whose room smells overpoweringly of Cucumber Melon. It’s funny how there are those people who just make you feel at home, and she is certainly one of them.
I’m really enjoying the blessing of friendship that God has seen fit to give me. I’ve been asking for some strong Christian friends and, Woop! There they are! Not that other friends aren’t valuable because they are, and I love them, and I’ve been really blessed in that regard as well. But my faith is something that’s really valuable to me and something that I want to pursue, doggedly, and its an encouragement to have peers I can talk to about issues like, well, whether watching pirated copies of Mad Men on japanese YouTube is really moral or how to live an authentic faith and find the right balance between holier-than-thou and absolutely-no-different-than-thou. It can be a tough middle line.
This morning (read: afternoon), I’m just so pleased and grateful in some truly deep ways for The Way Things Have Turned Out. Not all of it was pleasant, and some things continue to break my heart, but God can redeem even our worst mistakes and turn them into something valuable. I know that; I’ve seen evidence of it. I wrote a story once in which one character says to the other, “It hasn’t always been easy and there are things that I wish I could regret. But they all brought me to where and who I am. They all brought me to this moment I’m having here with you.”
Or as my mom said, “Nothing is a waste if you learn something”. And I’m not indulging in wasting time anymore.
Tags: James, Josie, redemption, thanksgiving, trust in God
I gotta say, best all night conversation I’ve ever had, at IHOP no less. You’re not the only one to find it a strange experience to find yourself in a conversation and the other person not only makes sense, but agrees in ways you didn’t expect. I cannot say enough how much enjoyed the evening.