Sunday Social

1. Tell us about the family you grew up in, parents, siblings, grandparents.

I grew up with 3 brothers and 2 sisters. My oldest sister was graduated and out of the house before I was very old; so she’s always been the angelic older sibling that I look up to. I could say a lot about my older brothers, but I’ll sum it up by saying that Oldest Brother and Brother were my main playmates and friends (most of the time.) Older Brother was away from the house most of the time. Little Sister has always been my best friend and worst enemy depending on our moods for the day. I have always been thankful for my mom, who has always encouraged me to be who I am, even if that is weirdly different from everyone else at times. And even though my dad doesn’t always seem to understand me, and even when he’s agreeing with me he makes it sound like I’m wrong and he’s right, I still am thankful for him too.

 

2. Tell us about your husband, fiancé, boyfriend, significant other.

Obviously since I’m a teenager I don’t have a husband, or fiancé. And I’ve never had a “boyfriend” in my life, although the majority of my friends have been boys. Never will I have one, either. I refuse to think about boys in that way and see them instead as either friends, or possible friends. That being said, I do have a ring on my left ring finger. It represents my promise to stay single and live my life for God alone, as well as the added promise to have pure friendships. So in a way, if you suspend all judgment and ignore how awkward and messed up it sounds, that kind of makes God/Jesus my fiancé… which God calls the church his “bride” so I’m not completely a lunatic for typing that! So I’ll talk about Him; ready for pages upon pages of writing? No? Okay, I’ll try and keep it short then. Jesus is my Savior, my Bestest Friend; always there when I need someone to talk to, comforting me when I’m scared (which is most of the time!), and always by my side protecting me from the fears that come with the darkness of night. I could still go on some more, but instead I’ll just sum it up like this; He is my All.

3. Tell us about your children. If you don’t have children, talk about your fur children.

My “fur child” is my black and white cat, Snarfy. She’s fat, grumpy, and cold. That’s how others see her. To me, she’s the Queen of the house; beautiful, independent, and prideful. Even though she acts tough, she’s extremely loving in her own way. She’ll walk around the house calling out “Mouw-wa!” until she’ll find me, Brother would always joke that it’s like she’s calling me “momma.” When I look at her, lying in the sun across the room and think how beautiful she is, she’ll notice me looking at her and for a moment her green eyes sparkle with a warm love. Then she’ll look away, as if she doesn’t notice me at all, although I can tell she’s still watching me from the corner of her eye. And whenever I was upset, crying alone on my bed, she’d come and curl up next to me; not asking to be petted, simply being there with me, pretending to not notice my tears. Ay-yi-yi! The more I think about her, the more heart broken I am that I’ve had to leave her behind in the cities with Oldest Brother because we can’t have pets at our senior living home.

4. Tell us about your best friends. How long have you known them? How did you meet?

God has blessed me with bringing some amazing friends into my life when we moved down here to the country. The term “Best Friend” is thrown around so much in this culture that I often wonder if people really mean it when they use it nowadays. Me being a person quick to call just about everyone my friend, but slow to call someone a “Best Friend,” I would say that I have a handful of really good friends, and out of that, three best friends. All three go to my church and I’ve known them for about two years now. One I saw the first Sunday my family visited the church. There were three boys a few pews ahead of us after church and two things that stood out to me about him from the other two was his tallness (literally “stood out”!) and his large, western style belt buckle, which made me contemplate how interesting country people are. My other two best friends I met the next Sunday when I went to Sunday School. That was the the first time since I was about twelve that I wasn't the only one in the class! I was introduced to the one and she invited me to come sit with the rest of the teens before Sunday School started, then I sat by her in Sunday School as well. And my other best friend I met after church and we found out that we were both homeschooled! I’m very reserved when it comes to sharing my feelings about other people; but I think I can manage to say that I’m thankful every day for my friends. Especially for the fact that they are so different from me; both athletically and in lifestyle. It challenges me to go outside of my comfort zone and try new things and to understand people that have different interests than me. God had definitely made me a better person because of my friends.

5. Tell us about any other special people in your life.

When I was little, one of my best friend’s mom was a big influence on my life. She had just recently become a Christian and hadn’t learned all the “Christian” rules of acting yet. She showed this goody-two-shoes-teacher’s-pet little girl who thought being a Christian was about being good, that there was a lot more to having “Jesus in her heart” than putting on a mask of being perfect. Another person was my Sunday School teacher when I was little. She would have a different cat story almost every Sunday. One specific Sunday, I was sitting next to her before Sunday School started. For some reason I had worn fancier clothes and perfume that Sunday. She leaned over to me before a song started and whispered “don’t be in too big of a hurry to grow up!” That made me wake up and realize what am I doing trying to act “grown up!?” Now, I’ve made up my mind to never be a grown up. Ever. I’m just a little girl constantly being awed by her Abba’s beautiful world. There are so many other people who have had an impact on my life, but I’ll stop putting you to sleep with my ruminating for now!