Welcome Old Friends!
Upon checking a acquaintance’s blog tonight, I found the blog of an old college friend, then more college friends, then high school friends, and even a dear family friend (yes, that’d be you, jaybird). It was surreal. I didn’t know blogging had caught on in Mississippi. That’s not a put down, I promise. It just never occurred to me that folks from my past might be recording their thoughts and feelings on the same medium that I’ve really come to love.
I can’t wait to read these new blogs of old friends. I must say I’m a little nervous about new readers from my old life reading about my present life. Needless to say, I’m not the same girl that left Mississippi almost two years ago. I would say that a lot of growing up has occurred. A narrow mind has widened. Legalism and fundamentalism are slowly, and sometimes rapidly fading away. I’m doing my darndest not to replace them with more of the same crap but different toilet paper. There may be some things that you find astonishing, but I promise that I am finally happy here. I am happy with my God, and I’m enjoying the journey to an authentic way of following after Jesus in the company of good friends. I’m discovering that it’s okay to let my hair down and be my true self- a girl who is not perfect nor a model Christian, but someone who is continually questioning and learning yet stumbling all the while. Experiencing this new found freedom in Christ, which the religion I grew up in did not seem to afford, has been such a rich time of growth for me. To some it may seem like the demise of a perfectly good little Christian girl, but for me this journey has been both liberating and life-giving. I know we all change, and maybe right now you’re thinking I’m a hypocrite for assuming everyone else is just the same as when I left. I’ll admit that I can be this way at times, but I’ll make deal with all of you- I’ll have faith in you, if you’ll have faith in me.
If you’ve got a free hour, start in May and work your way up. If you haven’t got that much time, start with my February 21 post, and go to the website at the bottom and read “Sometimes the Best Book is an Old Friend” written by my pal Sam Davidson. He’s captured the change that is continuing to occur in me better than I could, or at least in an abbreviated space. wink.
I can’t wait to read these new blogs of old friends. I must say I’m a little nervous about new readers from my old life reading about my present life. Needless to say, I’m not the same girl that left Mississippi almost two years ago. I would say that a lot of growing up has occurred. A narrow mind has widened. Legalism and fundamentalism are slowly, and sometimes rapidly fading away. I’m doing my darndest not to replace them with more of the same crap but different toilet paper. There may be some things that you find astonishing, but I promise that I am finally happy here. I am happy with my God, and I’m enjoying the journey to an authentic way of following after Jesus in the company of good friends. I’m discovering that it’s okay to let my hair down and be my true self- a girl who is not perfect nor a model Christian, but someone who is continually questioning and learning yet stumbling all the while. Experiencing this new found freedom in Christ, which the religion I grew up in did not seem to afford, has been such a rich time of growth for me. To some it may seem like the demise of a perfectly good little Christian girl, but for me this journey has been both liberating and life-giving. I know we all change, and maybe right now you’re thinking I’m a hypocrite for assuming everyone else is just the same as when I left. I’ll admit that I can be this way at times, but I’ll make deal with all of you- I’ll have faith in you, if you’ll have faith in me.
If you’ve got a free hour, start in May and work your way up. If you haven’t got that much time, start with my February 21 post, and go to the website at the bottom and read “Sometimes the Best Book is an Old Friend” written by my pal Sam Davidson. He’s captured the change that is continuing to occur in me better than I could, or at least in an abbreviated space. wink.
posted by Janalee | 11:47 PM
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