What do you get when you take a 10 year old Russian girl and place her amongst the Latinos, Hispanics, Portuguese and African Americans for 13 years and then move her again to be surrounded by Russians and Asians? ME! Culturally confused? No, just very diverse... Coming back to RI never fails to make me extremely aware of how all of these cultures have made their mark on me.
Something else that I always become aware of is how my guy to girl friend ratio is 2:1 here. I know I've mentioned it before, but it still doesn't fail to amaze me... Never mind the fact that half of these guys wanted to sleep with me prior to my move and even now I know some of them are hoping that on one of my visits I'll be back to the wild child that I was when they knew me. Sorry, boys :), NOT happening! For the most part though, they are all my brothers whom I still have to slap around a few times when they get silly. I love my boys (and my girls, of course) very much... It's not a romantic kind of love, but a family one that says I'll do anything for you... And yet, they still break my heart... They are SUCH amazing guys and GREAT friends, but they are not happy and it hurts me to see them like lost little puppies going from one thing to the next in search of love and fulfillment... Every time I see them it's the same story with the same sad ending... I try to slap some sense into them, and they agree with what I say, yet nothing changes. They frustrate me to no end with their dating fiascoes and painful heartbreak stories. And some of my girls are the same way...
So yes, I'm enjoying my family and I'm enjoying my friends... I'm having a great time with them, but it still tears me up to see their pain, their struggles, and their needs... I want to help them, to "save" them, to just make it all better, to make all the decisions for them, but of course I know I can't... and it sucks!
Being a teacher, I'm all too familiar with the feeling of watching a student struggle with a problem that I know a solution to... And just giving them the right answer is not the right thing to do... If they are to learn they must come to that answer by themselves... I can't keep giving my friends the answers to their problems... It won't do them any good unless they come the realization of the answers on their own... I can intervene and help them and be there for them for years (and I have been), but I know that only divine intervention will truly "save" them from themselves. Hey, it happened to me... I'm a miracle and I've seen a few of my friends experience that same miracle... I know it can happen... I know God is big enough to make it happen for each one of my friends, and I believe that He will... In church this morning, when the pastor told us to tell God what we want Him to do for us and in us, my one prayer was, "Lord, I want to worship You with the people I used to party with." I know He's right on top of it... one of those people was already singing "Lord, You Are GOOD" next to me today... :)
1 comment:
"giving them the right answer is not the right thing to do... If they are to learn they must come to that answer by themselves"
I Always try to point them in the right direction, and depending on the situation, quote scripture.
Proverbs 20:5 "Though good advice lies deep within a person's heart, the wise will draw it out."
Try to make your friends wiser. Engage them in deep conversations, let them draw the answers out of you. If you tell it like it is, they don't think for them selfs; and will probably get mad. In the end you will tell them truth, but by letting them draw the answers out of you they will have a better understanding. It also lets you know if they are ready for wisdom. Matthew 7:6. The key is that you need to, for lack of better words, manipulate the conversation so they will come to the conclusion that you intended them to have. In short this means that near the start of the conversation you already have the end target in mind, the fun part is getting the other person to ask the right questions.
I love my boyz too
Galatians 5:6
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