But first, some totally shameless self-promotion. Check out thelift. It’s our relatively new modern worship service, and if you click on the 8/24 service, you can hear the trio that I’m a part of singing the Doxology acapella. We’re about six minutes into it, but there’s an AWESOME Coldplay song at the beginning that they did very well. I wouldn’t normally do that, but it did end up sounding pretty nice, so I wanted to share:)

I’ve always struggled with making good friends. All too often, I’ve let myself get caught up in the trap of befriending people who need a “complaining partner,” or basing friendship on the mutual desire to gossip. And I’ve learned, at least twice in very unceremonious ways, that those friendships are the most dangerous. You should not expect the people to whom you complain and gossip to refrain from doing the same with others, revealing what you have said to the world. I’ve learned over the past seven or eight years that it’s better 1) not to say things that you wouldn’t want people to know you said and 2)own up to things you’ve said that are unflattering. In the long run, it’s better to leave a situation with a clean conscience, even if it is painful and humiliating for you. It’s far better to be able to sleep at night than to worry that what you’ve said about others may be revealed eventually…

At any rate, over the past few years, I’ve had true friends come into my life, and I am so grateful. Our band did a concert at my home church tonight, and one of my friends, Katie, from FBCIT came along just because. Honestly, it just made me realize how grateful I am to have “true-blue” friends these days, ones who honestly care about me and ones about whom I honestly care. They are really worth more than money can buy (which is good since we have so little!). I hate that it’s been such a painful journey to get here, but I don’t think I would change it, honestly. I don’t think I would change a thing.