Nana Is Always Right

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Extra clothes. Pajamas. Socks. Bible. Hunger Games. Journal. iHome. Cell Phone Charger. Camera.

One by one the times were thrown into my hot pink Victoria's Secret tote bag. A few weeks prior I had gotten an invite from a girl I had met a few months ago for a girls overnight. Basically, a sleepover for grown ups.

I compulsively looked at the invitation to be sure I had everything I needed and also checking the Facebook event to try and find out if I knew anyone going. Nope. The hostess still had it set up so you couldn't see the names of people invited and I still didn't recognize anyone who had written on the wall. Drat.

I tend to feel nervous quite often when I go to social events. While I may have been living in Missouri for about four years now, I am still the new girl. It is a strange feeling for me, considering that I've never had many problems making friends. I was always the one welcoming other people in, not the other way around.

Who was I going to talk to all night? Would the other girls like me? Will they be prettier than me? Will I be looked down on because I don't have a rock on my finger and I can't find my way around the kitchen if my life depended on it? Or even worse... what if they think Glee is from the devil?

I was the first to arrive along with one other girl. Thankfully, my friend who had invited me welcomed me with a warm hug. Eventually the other girls arrived as well and formed their little groups and started chattering away. Unable to jump in on any conversations, I wandered over to the piano to try and find any sheet music easy enough for me to sight read. No such luck. The hostess also did not need any help with getting dinner ready. Drat.

I couldn't help but be reminded of when I was 14 and going to high school on the first day, trying to figure out which lunch table to sit at. I didn't have friends point out to me which group sat where and who to avoid like in Mean Girls. 

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"She quit being a Victoria's Secret Angel because she said she wanted to save her body for her husband. It's because of how much she's been growing in her faith! Isn't that such a great story?"

As I overheard one of the girls gushing about this I couldn't help but think of my ginormous Victoria's Secret hot pink tote bag not even three feet away. Oops. Maybe hanging out with this crowd wasn't such a great idea . . .

When I was going to my first day of high school my Nana was there and she encouraged me saying that everyone is nervous their first day of high school and told me that I was going to make friends in no time.

Naturally, she was right and I did make some really good friends while in high school. Nanas are always right about these things.

It turned out to be a good night. Once the ice was broken I found out that these girls were actually really sweet. At first it was difficult for me to switch my mindset over to one of a conservative Christian girl. But, not too difficult once we started to laugh at the YouTube video "Sh*uff Christian Girls Say" and that became the joke of the evening. Even I had to admit - I've probably said a majority of those things.

I also found that I envied these women to an extent. Not because many of them were married, had kids, or were prettier than me. It was because of how often they talked about The Lord. Usually I get annoyed when people go into "Christianese" talk because I feel like it sounds phony. With them... it wasn't phony at all. They genuinely wanted to follow God and to simply love him with everything they had. Heck - there are times I have difficulty sharing my faith with the teenagers and that's my job!

It showed me just how judgmental I can be at times. How when I hear I'm going to hang out with a bunch of Christians I have a certain sterotype in my head about who they are and what their attitudes are going to be like.

When did I become to cynical and judgmental about the people who are supposed to be the ones I connect to the most? They each had their own stories about life, faith, and what God has done in their lives. I wasn't able to hear all of them, but the little I was able to hear was amazing. There were times I didn't agree 100% with their opinions, and it took me a bit to get into their mindset, but it was okay.

I'm Facebook friends with each of the other girls now - which is the way of 21st century America. I don't know if we're all going to be BFFs or anything like that, but it made me realize how much I missed having friends who were girls that I could grow in my faith with. Where I don't have to be embarrassed to talk about God to. I also learned that I need to hang up my pride sometimes and just open myself to getting to know other people.

Also- here is that YouTube video. Can't you just picture me as the one who is all "I just LOVE coffee and the Word!"