I shared part of this with someone in my life that feels like they’re in the storm now. Thank you London and Eve for letting your mom write about the hard fight for friendship. I know God put you just where you needed to be. Not only to bless the people around you, but also to bless you both. :) Another great article! Miss you guys!
Thank you two for allowing to come on your journey of teen struggles. But the best part for me, from a grandma's viewpoint is the wonderful way you stayed in the struggle and never gave in! You are a blessing to this old heart. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks you, L & E, for being so generous in sharing your war stories. It is so true that friendship continues to be harrrrrddd and scary and sad sometimes but that’s also not a good enough reason to give up on it. I’m so proud of both of you for persevering. And I’m so happy for the good times you’re having now! 💜 JL, thank you for writing it all down...I love the posts when you articulate two things that are true, but can seem oppositional to each other. (Because isn’t that most things?) 🙃
Please thank your lovely daughters for allowing you to tell the story.
So many things have been typed and backspaced over as being superfluous. Two favorite quotes from your story: "If this is where God brought us, I guess we just have to keep showing up." and "Patience is war".
“If this is where God brought us, I guess we just have to keep showing up.”
It warms my heart to know that there are kids growing up in this world as wise and wonderful as your girls are. What a credit to you both, and what a demonstration of God's grace over y'all's lives. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we have a wise and wonderful girl of our own, and that your post reminded me of so, so many conversations we've had with her over the last few years during high school, and we continue to have them as she is beginning her first year of college.
"...patience is war. It’s not passive. It’s doesn’t happen on accident. Waiting for God is holding on in a hurricane."
Whew! Ain't this the truth? And one of the hardest truths to learn, practice, and relearn. Over and over.
This was one of the most enjoyably challenging articles I've read in quite a while. Thank you for sharing this.
This brought a huge smile to my face (and maybe a couple tears). London and Eve, Y'all are awesome. I shared this with the FSM team. "Belong" is one of the student ministry values, and this story gives such a good perspective that that rarely happens over night... and can even feel terrible at first. Shoot, it gave me flashbacks to my own teen years in FSM, haha! But also gratitude for the deep friendships that still linger from those "war" days.
Also, to have been a fly on the wall in y'alls car would've been priceless. Logging these conversation bits away for when our boys get there. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks to London and Eve for allowing you to share the struggle. Thank you, too, for supporting them during the struggle--how was the adjustment to the new congregation for you and for Justin?
I see in the girls so many of the habits of mind we are teaching and reinforcing at the school in which I work. Persisting, thinking and communicating with clarity and precision, thinking flexibly, listening with understanding and empathy, taking responsible risks, questioning and posing problems, and finding humor are all part of the this story, and are strengths they can carry with them throughout their lives. Well done, London and Eve. Well done, Justin and JL.
Love their thought, “If this is where God brought us, I guess we just have to keep showing up.” Wise words from young hearts. Great message for us all! Thank you for sharing!
Oh, yeah - one thing I'd meant to mention - I just love your little ID/bio/whatever comment where you say "always with wonder". Wonder is such a marvelous thing (almost typed wonderful) and can lift us up out of whatever murk we happen to be slogging through. One of my favorite childhood books is Charlotte's Web and my favorite quote by its author, E. B. White, is "Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder." Being surround by God's glorious creation, we are always in the presence of wonder - but sometimes it takes a little effort to be aware. (always worth it, though!!)
And I should have clarified what was meant by so many things being typed and then deleted as being superfluous - I meant typed by me and then deleted as I was commenting.
Actually the whole idea of "showing up" is really important, especially since there is so doggoned much we don't know - we just have to keep showing up and doing the next thing.
I shared part of this with someone in my life that feels like they’re in the storm now. Thank you London and Eve for letting your mom write about the hard fight for friendship. I know God put you just where you needed to be. Not only to bless the people around you, but also to bless you both. :) Another great article! Miss you guys!
Am I crying in the library?
Thank you two for allowing to come on your journey of teen struggles. But the best part for me, from a grandma's viewpoint is the wonderful way you stayed in the struggle and never gave in! You are a blessing to this old heart. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks you, L & E, for being so generous in sharing your war stories. It is so true that friendship continues to be harrrrrddd and scary and sad sometimes but that’s also not a good enough reason to give up on it. I’m so proud of both of you for persevering. And I’m so happy for the good times you’re having now! 💜 JL, thank you for writing it all down...I love the posts when you articulate two things that are true, but can seem oppositional to each other. (Because isn’t that most things?) 🙃
Thank you.
Please thank your lovely daughters for allowing you to tell the story.
So many things have been typed and backspaced over as being superfluous. Two favorite quotes from your story: "If this is where God brought us, I guess we just have to keep showing up." and "Patience is war".
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
“If this is where God brought us, I guess we just have to keep showing up.”
It warms my heart to know that there are kids growing up in this world as wise and wonderful as your girls are. What a credit to you both, and what a demonstration of God's grace over y'all's lives. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we have a wise and wonderful girl of our own, and that your post reminded me of so, so many conversations we've had with her over the last few years during high school, and we continue to have them as she is beginning her first year of college.
"...patience is war. It’s not passive. It’s doesn’t happen on accident. Waiting for God is holding on in a hurricane."
Whew! Ain't this the truth? And one of the hardest truths to learn, practice, and relearn. Over and over.
This was one of the most enjoyably challenging articles I've read in quite a while. Thank you for sharing this.
This brought a huge smile to my face (and maybe a couple tears). London and Eve, Y'all are awesome. I shared this with the FSM team. "Belong" is one of the student ministry values, and this story gives such a good perspective that that rarely happens over night... and can even feel terrible at first. Shoot, it gave me flashbacks to my own teen years in FSM, haha! But also gratitude for the deep friendships that still linger from those "war" days.
Also, to have been a fly on the wall in y'alls car would've been priceless. Logging these conversation bits away for when our boys get there. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks to London and Eve for allowing you to share the struggle. Thank you, too, for supporting them during the struggle--how was the adjustment to the new congregation for you and for Justin?
I see in the girls so many of the habits of mind we are teaching and reinforcing at the school in which I work. Persisting, thinking and communicating with clarity and precision, thinking flexibly, listening with understanding and empathy, taking responsible risks, questioning and posing problems, and finding humor are all part of the this story, and are strengths they can carry with them throughout their lives. Well done, London and Eve. Well done, Justin and JL.
Love their thought, “If this is where God brought us, I guess we just have to keep showing up.” Wise words from young hearts. Great message for us all! Thank you for sharing!
Oh, yeah - one thing I'd meant to mention - I just love your little ID/bio/whatever comment where you say "always with wonder". Wonder is such a marvelous thing (almost typed wonderful) and can lift us up out of whatever murk we happen to be slogging through. One of my favorite childhood books is Charlotte's Web and my favorite quote by its author, E. B. White, is "Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder." Being surround by God's glorious creation, we are always in the presence of wonder - but sometimes it takes a little effort to be aware. (always worth it, though!!)
And I should have clarified what was meant by so many things being typed and then deleted as being superfluous - I meant typed by me and then deleted as I was commenting.
Actually the whole idea of "showing up" is really important, especially since there is so doggoned much we don't know - we just have to keep showing up and doing the next thing.