WOMEN!

Today I left from a women's retreat with my church. I am back with the boys now at Mom and Dad's house.

It was good, really good.

I met a new chick, hung out with old friends, reached out to girls I didn't know very well and... went to room 293. We can't talk about what goes on in there. That's where the "experienced" women stayed. Don't think bad things when you see the word, "experienced." I can't think of any other way to describe it. I had no idea what I didn't know about these women -except for Carolyn, I had already figured her out.

I've decided that women's personalities are set by age 13 and after that they don't change. They refine, grow, mature (whatever that means), but no matter how old they get, they are still the SAME person they were back then. The same person, with a "grown-up" mask on.

You know how junior high students act. Some girls are loud, wild, daring, spunky, brave. Others are quiet, reserved, poised. Typically junior high students let it all out. I am ME! This is who I am. They show the world. Then they slowly disguised the person they are with things like manners and self-respect, and mature behavior. They give in to peer pressure and try to blend in with the crowd. They needed to attract a guy to marry them and couldn't risk scaring him off!

Oh, I wish I could go back in time and visit these women as 7th graders, to see who they were. I wonder if I'm on track with this or way off.

This weekend I saw some people take off their grown-up mask. It was interesting. I was glad to see who these people are without their church clothes on. I loved seeing how they reacted to each other. How they love being around other women. I don't know what else to say.

Before you start reading things into what I am saying, let me tell you. These are Christ following women. They love Jesus. They serve for Jesus. They live to minster to others. Their heartbeat is for Christ. None of that changed this weekend.

But they let loose.

I felt like the new kid. You know, when you want to jump in to make jokes, but you don't really know what is funny to them and what is too far or what is too normal. So I did what I always do in this sort of situation.

I watched. I felt it out. I looked at the floor and shook my head.

I knew I was learning something about life, about girls, about Christians. I slowly realized what was being revealed in front of me.

Bonding
Freedom in Christ
Sisterhood

People are made for community. God never intended for us to walk this life alone. He made us to live not just around, but alongside others. His plan is for us to encourage, lift up, and learn from others.

How sweet it is to see such love. I saw women who were not afraid of being vulnerable with others; not afraid to expose themselves. No fear of judgment or rejection -only trust.

It was great.