IT'S A YES FOR ME
Making new friends is one of my absolute favorite things. I rarely meet a stranger. I think I get that from my parents. I love people. I love to know all the things about them. I’ll be hyping that girl up in the bathroom. I’ll be offering to reach that thing on the tall grocery store shelf for ya. A literal bucket list item of mine is to pick up a hitchhiker. So, making new friends is really my jam. Do people even say that any more? I do. And it is!
I’ve probably written and deleted this half a dozen times now. I was asked to write about relationships, OR to write about something that I feel led to write about. I’m an excellent storyteller, but don’t consider writing something that I’m good at. But, I wanted my writing to reflect my heart and I just couldn’t ever adequately put together anything worth writing. So, I typed and erased, typed and erased, and decided to come back to it later.
And then, GOD.
Won’t He do it, y’all?! (this is the part of an actual story I would make very dramatic, so just imagine it in your head as you read that.) I was walking my dog last night, and as I came down from the big hill in my neighborhood I looked up at the break in the trees. He had painted the most beautiful cotton candy sky with swirls of purple. Purple is my FAVORITE color. And in that moment, when I looked up and saw that, He so gently reminded me that the thing I was worried about was going to be okay. And he also reminded me of what I wanted to say to you, my new friends.
And it's as simple as this: Say YES! to yourself. (And disclaimer, I haven't even read that book by Jen or Lysa or Jenny or whomever about the yes.)
For a long time, I was saying yes to everyone around me. I had said yes so much to others, I got to a point where the people I had been saying yes to had packed up and left me. Literally. For a new city in a new state. I had invested so much time saying yes to others and neglecting to say yes to myself. I looked around my empty house, sad, unhappy, and lonely, and, at age 31, decided to start saying YES! to myself. Because, at the end of the day when your head hits the pillow, that's who’s there. Well, technically, at the end of my day it's me and my four-legged sidekick, Rosie the dog, but I think you get what I mean. When I said Yes! to myself, I also said Yes! to God, and we started some hard but oh so beautiful work.
I don't know what your yes looks like. It may be a yes to your health, to a big new adventure, to something that scares you and pushes you out of your comfort zone. But I pray that you hold on tight to God and just say yes. Every. Single. Day. Show up for yourself. Say yes to yourself, EVEN when you don't want to. And I KNOW how easy it is for me, a single gal, to say this, BUT *clears throat* your kids will one day be grown and gone. Your husband will, if he doesn’t already, get on your nerves. Your friends may let you down. Your job will replace you. And, yes, your sister may pack up and move. So, what I want to say to you, my new friend, is to say yes to the person that stays. And, sis, that is God. Show up for yourself, and let Him do the work in you. Because, I’ll say it again, WON’T *hand clap* HE *hand clap* DO *hand clap* IT!