sweet sisterhood.

I've never had a large group of girl friends. In fact, that is basically one of the constants anyone close to me can rely on.  It's not really something I've chosen, it's just how it has always been. I don't know how to do girl things. I don't like rom coms and Ryan Gosling and nail polish and shopping. I'm sarcastic and like old vampire movies and minimal drama.  So when my Thailand team pushed me and prayed with me and challenged me this summer, you can only imagine my reaction when they gave me an ultimatum: Make girl friends by the end of the semester.

Um. . . excuse me? 

No thank you. 

I made excuses and did my fair share of hiding. Instead of looking for a community of female friends at the beginning of the semester I spent my time hiding out in my guy friends' room, watching Jurassic Park movies and football games. But I knew deep down that something wasn't right and I needed to branch out, I just didn't want to make that move myself. I finally just sat down one night and had a real chat with God about it and I gave him a challenge: 

If I'm meant to have girl friends, they'll find me, so send them. 

A friend from freshman year convinced me to go to Campus Crusade with her one night, and I decided it was time to get involved. I looked for a Bible study just in case I felt like going, but I wasn't planning on staying there in any kind of permanent situation, because I figured I would be fine with just the Tuesday night group meetings. 

Before we move on with this story, let me give you a piece of advice from an experienced wise woman:

Don't challenge God if you aren't ready to see big results. 

Through a chain of events, it turned out that the friend I went to Cru with was really good friends with the girl leading the Bible study I had looked into joining. We met at Cru and then church on a Sunday morning. I figured I could slide around the issue of Bible study and go with my plan to casually drop in now and then, but little did I know this girl was a serious pursuer. By the end of the service on Sunday morning, not only was I feeling obligated to show up that Thursday night but I also had a coffee date planned with her. 

A little over a month later, I've basically taken up residence in the room she shares with her roommate, am a regular attender of the Bible study, and have spent a weekend at aforementioned girl's home. 

Basically, in the time it took me to think up my sassy little challenge to God, He was already laughing and had a group of sister handpicked for me; He was just waiting on me to surrender my ridiculous pride and ask. 

In the past month, I've been blessed with an amazingly solid group of beautiful, passionate, Christ-loving sisters who have taken me in with open arms and have really helped redefine my definition of community and sisterhood. I've been pushed and challenged to grow in my faith, challenge common beliefs with a Biblical perspective, really look at my life, and to always be striving for better all while really embracing how truly fearfully, wonderfully, and beautifully made I am. Because of these girls, my faith has stayed grounded through hard times and my identity in Him has stayed firm because they are always there to encouragement and push me when all I want to do is run off in a corner and toss all inhibition into the wind and give into every raw, fleshy desire that in within my gross little soul.

Even though I've tried to deny it for 19 years, having a solid group of Christian sisters around you is so crucial. I walked out of freshman year with a hefty trail of emotional baggage, broken relationships, and a whole new set of rejections to deal with. Don't get me wrong, I am a big advocate for guy friends, and mine last year helped me through the toughest times I've ever faced. But there are some things that only girls get, and you can't get around that. That was where my first year of college was lacking, and things would have been a bit different had I just accepted this in the first place. 
But thank the Lord for second chances, because I can't wait to see where this adventure is going to take me as I do life with a crazy group of girl and enjoy one of the greatest blessing God created for us: sisterhood.