After another sweet reunion with the girls that have made the past 4 years the sweetest, most memorable years of my life, I can’t help but sit back and reflect on what it means to be a part of something so precious, something that Ainsley so perfectly defined as community.
It’s definitely safe to say that I have been blessed with a tight knit group of friends that have loved each other so well. We accept each other’s faults, strengthen each other’s weaknesses, and encourage each other’s personal and spiritual growth. And by learning how to love these girls, I have come to understand the importance of people.
community: affinity, identity, kinship, likeness, sameship
We choose our friends. We just do. Put me in a room with 1,000 people and the first thing I’m going to do is find someone to talk to, laugh with, relate to. I used to believe that friendship was all about sharing the same style, liking the same music, laughing at the same jokes. Being a friend was essentially all about being the same.
But sitting here today, reflecting on what has been and learning how to adapt to the change that is and is to come, God is so sweetly and lovingly revealing to me how incredibly confused I’ve been (this happens often). Because as I looked around at all my friends this weekend, I was blown away by how different we all are. Everything from our hair color to our goals and dreams. Our freshman year, we tried to do everything the same. Now, here we are, on the other side, and suddenly it dawns upon us--we’re women.
We’re pursuing different careers, confidently flaunting different styles of shoes and clothing, arguing different political views, flourishing in our different personalities. I’m not a 10 year old girl anymore calling my friends to plan our exactly-the-same-limited-too-outfits for the week. I’m unique and different and sometimes, a little weird. I’m my own person, and so are they.
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