As I mentioned in the earlier post, we are coming up on a year since we left the CLB and I thought yesterday, I should purposely look at an affirm the things that I’ve learned over this past year. So here are some of those treasures in dark places I’ve found:
*Friendships. It seems strange to write that I learned about friendships in a year that I feel as though I’ve lost a ton, but in actuality I’ve gained and discovered a whole lot more than I thought. When you leave a ministry that you’ve been in for as long as we were, you lose a lot of friends. (Those that are in more traditional style settings may not understand, because they never have had to deal with the rigidity of order that comes with a church like we were in. Many are told not to associate with you when you leave the type of church we were in, due to fear of “contamination” or “defilement.”)
But in the course of leaving and coming into our own, we have found that our truest friends are still our true friends. Some left when we did, some didn’t, but yet true friends remain loyal, even in spite of differences. I also learned that I had friends on the outside of my circle that I didn’t know. Some came out of the woodwork to bless us when we were without a job for 10 weeks and had no income whatsoever. Others prayed for us and supported us without even knowing their name until several months later.
I am a big believer in relationship and friendship. There are personalities in our world that are more task-oriented, and thank God that they are here, because without them we’d never get anything done, but I’m definitely a people-oriented personality. I enjoy friendships, take them seriously and am loyal to my own hurt most of the time for them. I believe this is why my life change hurt so badly. But those who have truly loved us have participated in our healing and supported us through the long season of change.
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