friend

today i discovered something that i think i have always known, but am always pleasantly surprised each time it happens. what a wonder the bond of christ is to believers! i was introduced to a girl about my age today, from across an ocean. i found that i instantly liked her. i liked the way she spoke about God, easily and freely. i liked the way she spoke about herself, with quiet confidence mixed with the ability to laugh at herself. i liked the way she challenged me and made me want to seek after God more.

one thing (among many!) she challenged me about today, quite unintentionally i'm sure, was the interchangeable way our culture uses the words "love" and "like." she said that one of the hardest things for her about being back in the states is the way she quite easily follows the trends to "love" things. she explained this with the example of her "love of ice cream" using the same word that she would describe her relationship with a person or even God. she told me that she only wanted to love God and people, and merely "like" everything else. the rest of the day i noticed as she would catch herself begin to say she "loved" something, only to replace it with "like."

i think she's right. swearing isn't the only way we casually misuse language. it seems to me that by not reserving a word such as "love" for only the things deserving of it, the value of those deserving things is decreased. i was challenged today to use my words to reflect the God-desires within me. my language should reflect my value on people and God.

today i found a friend. i wasn't looking for one, and i certainly wasn't expecting it from a romanian girl i barely knew. but i think God gave me one today in a girl who shares a love for the same savior.