"Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river."
Isaiah 66:12
I am very proud to say that I know four of the most beautiful young women alive. Being involved in their lives is the most wonderful gift and I am grateful. They are intelligent, graceful, lovely, polite, kind, empathetic, compassionate, heartfelt, honest, wise, experienced, open minded, funny, joyful, and thoughtful. They are also socially awkward, sarcastic, blunt, crass, naive, sorrowful, over eager, judgmental, and strange. And still they are more than all these things, they are beautiful daughters of God, sisters in Christ, and my friends.
Two and a half years ago, I returned to the Pacific Northwest without any knowledge of what might lay ahead for me. I started helping with a youth group that had once rejected me as a teen and would again reject me as an adult, but I am glad of the opportunity it gave me to speak into the lives of these four girls. When I met three of them, I was a reserved leader on a mission trip down to Mexico. Reserved because I wasn't sure of my role as a leader, wasn't sure that my opinions or history would be accepted by the other adults on the trip as "appropriate", wasn't sure that I wanted to take up the torch of being a role model. But in the end, they won me over. Their sarcasm and eagerness for honesty from adults reminded me of another teenager I knew once...
On a car ride across the border and to San Diego, we talked about boys and life and the inbetweens. And I promised them, laughing, that they could each be flower girls in my wedding - my far off, distant, imaginary wedding. Then, three months later, I was engaged. But I had promised these three high school girls that they could be flower girls in my now very real, very soon, very happening wedding. So they were. And by the time I met the fourth, our very strange and sarcastic circle was complete.
Despite their similarities, each girl is so vastly different from the next that I'm not sure where to start.
You have one tall and leggy, a dancer, who is as awkward as she is graceful. She doubts herself even when she shouldn't and pretends things don't bother her when they do. Her expectations are not high because she has experienced disappointment, yet she still has unlimited amounts of hope for the future. She is fiercely independent. A leader. Someone that younger girls look up to, even though she doesn't know it. She has her own sense of style and laughs because she can't help it. She is beautiful.
Then there is another with dark hair and eyes, who feigns shyness when she is bold in reality. She appears fearless, but is cautious - too many people have let her down. She assumes no one is listening, but she is profound. Sarcasm is her shield from the world and she does not see her own potential, despite her unlimited amounts of it. She has felt true loneliness, but when she smiles it lights up a room. She is beautiful.
And one short and petite with a flare for fashion and a mind for school. She is a thoughtful, devoted friend and sure of herself. When she finds herself disappointed, she is nonchalant and acts uninterested. She is always looking forward to her future and sometimes forgets about the now, until she remembers and finds joy in even the smallest things. She is often serious, but also playful. Eager to be an individual. She is beautiful.
Last but not least, she is tall and lovely. Most often unaware and easily embarrassed, it might seem like she doesn't belong in this crowd, but she does. She can laugh at herself and loves without reservation. Truly kind and appreciative of everyone around her. She is often unsure of herself, but self corrects and can be herself around anyone. She is accepting and open minded. Some times she speaks without thinking and is shy, but other times she is courageous and outspoken. She is beautiful.
All four represent strength and beauty in their own ways. All four are capable and intelligent. All four are wonderful and loving friends whom I have come to cherish and adore. They show up at my tiny studio each Thursday night and we talk about everything - appropriate and not so much. Because I would rather they talk to me about (insert topic here) than to no one at all and because I love them and there is no topic off limits to the people I love. I am as transparent as I can be in hopes that they can be transparent with me. Mostly, we goof off and make jokes, but the thought is that they will see someone accepting them for who they are so they can accept others - and themselves.
I worry about them, I pray for them, I laugh with them, I share with them, and through them? God gives me peace. It is a strange peace from a strange place, but it flows. As long as they give me the opportunity to love them, I will take it. We have touched briefly on the subject of Mark, Rory, and I leaving the country in the next year and it is a difficult one. These girls have been abandoned by one too many adults who promised them friendship. But I am eager to show them they will always have a place in my heart and on my couch and no amount of distance could ever alter that. They are my girls and they are the most beautiful girls I know.
Two and a half years ago, I returned to the Pacific Northwest without any knowledge of what might lay ahead for me. I started helping with a youth group that had once rejected me as a teen and would again reject me as an adult, but I am glad of the opportunity it gave me to speak into the lives of these four girls. When I met three of them, I was a reserved leader on a mission trip down to Mexico. Reserved because I wasn't sure of my role as a leader, wasn't sure that my opinions or history would be accepted by the other adults on the trip as "appropriate", wasn't sure that I wanted to take up the torch of being a role model. But in the end, they won me over. Their sarcasm and eagerness for honesty from adults reminded me of another teenager I knew once...
On a car ride across the border and to San Diego, we talked about boys and life and the inbetweens. And I promised them, laughing, that they could each be flower girls in my wedding - my far off, distant, imaginary wedding. Then, three months later, I was engaged. But I had promised these three high school girls that they could be flower girls in my now very real, very soon, very happening wedding. So they were. And by the time I met the fourth, our very strange and sarcastic circle was complete.
Despite their similarities, each girl is so vastly different from the next that I'm not sure where to start.
You have one tall and leggy, a dancer, who is as awkward as she is graceful. She doubts herself even when she shouldn't and pretends things don't bother her when they do. Her expectations are not high because she has experienced disappointment, yet she still has unlimited amounts of hope for the future. She is fiercely independent. A leader. Someone that younger girls look up to, even though she doesn't know it. She has her own sense of style and laughs because she can't help it. She is beautiful.
Then there is another with dark hair and eyes, who feigns shyness when she is bold in reality. She appears fearless, but is cautious - too many people have let her down. She assumes no one is listening, but she is profound. Sarcasm is her shield from the world and she does not see her own potential, despite her unlimited amounts of it. She has felt true loneliness, but when she smiles it lights up a room. She is beautiful.
And one short and petite with a flare for fashion and a mind for school. She is a thoughtful, devoted friend and sure of herself. When she finds herself disappointed, she is nonchalant and acts uninterested. She is always looking forward to her future and sometimes forgets about the now, until she remembers and finds joy in even the smallest things. She is often serious, but also playful. Eager to be an individual. She is beautiful.
Last but not least, she is tall and lovely. Most often unaware and easily embarrassed, it might seem like she doesn't belong in this crowd, but she does. She can laugh at herself and loves without reservation. Truly kind and appreciative of everyone around her. She is often unsure of herself, but self corrects and can be herself around anyone. She is accepting and open minded. Some times she speaks without thinking and is shy, but other times she is courageous and outspoken. She is beautiful.
All four represent strength and beauty in their own ways. All four are capable and intelligent. All four are wonderful and loving friends whom I have come to cherish and adore. They show up at my tiny studio each Thursday night and we talk about everything - appropriate and not so much. Because I would rather they talk to me about (insert topic here) than to no one at all and because I love them and there is no topic off limits to the people I love. I am as transparent as I can be in hopes that they can be transparent with me. Mostly, we goof off and make jokes, but the thought is that they will see someone accepting them for who they are so they can accept others - and themselves.
I worry about them, I pray for them, I laugh with them, I share with them, and through them? God gives me peace. It is a strange peace from a strange place, but it flows. As long as they give me the opportunity to love them, I will take it. We have touched briefly on the subject of Mark, Rory, and I leaving the country in the next year and it is a difficult one. These girls have been abandoned by one too many adults who promised them friendship. But I am eager to show them they will always have a place in my heart and on my couch and no amount of distance could ever alter that. They are my girls and they are the most beautiful girls I know.
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