On the prowl

We have been in College Station about three weeks now. The first week was spent mainly unpacking, getting things situated, and making sure everything worked properly. Ever since, I've been slightly bored. Strange, right? I mean, I know there is still a lot to do. My house still has a long way to go before it feels homey. But, with Jesse still working crazy hours and not being around to help me much, there is not much I can do on my own. Not to mention we still need to buy several main pieces of furniture, and thus don't really want to decorate until we find the main bones of the room, ya know?

So, Ryleigh and I have been bored. Work is slow. I'm restless. Ryleigh has played and played with her toys and has watched every movie we own probably ten times. She is restless. She always wants to play outside, but in this crazy heat, I really cannot let her until the evening hours. It has made for some long, lonely days.

I need to find some friends!! We try to go for at least one outing a day, even if it is just running to the store, just to get out of the house. And I find myself scanning the aisles, making eye contact with every Mom in there, smiling super big. I'll take Ryleigh to lunch at a "kids" place, such as Chick-fil-A or McDonalds, hoping to connect with another Mom while our toddlers run and play together. We have gone to the park several nights, and have met many different people from our neighborhood, again, through uninhibited instant friendship of our kids. While searching for a church home, I find my eyes searching each congregation looking for couples our age, wondering, "could they be our friends?"

I'm searching, doing everything I know how. For those of you who know me, this does not come easy. I'm not an initiator by nature. I'm not exactly shy...but I'm not super brave either. To strike up conversation with strangers is not something that falls in my comfort zone. I usually fall back on old reliable: ask about their kids! I guess it is easier to have the limelight on the kiddos than to actually look at the adults; because if I ask about them, then they will feel like they have to ask about me...and what if I'm really just not that interesting?

It is hard to find friends at this phase of life. Not just acquaintances (though even those are hard to come by right now), but real friends. Life is busy. Schedules conflict more and more. Making time for all of life's demands, raising a young family, having a job, keeping up with extended family, and sharing fellowship with friends, how do you do it? I think I thought I would not have time for it, and therefore would not miss the friendship part. I have learned in these two weeks how much I do miss it. Friends matter. And I need them.

So, even though it is hard to start over and muster up the courage to put myself out there, I'm going to do it. I want to find people. Friends to hang out with when our little ones need to play. Friends to go to lunch with when we need out of the house. Friends that come over to hang out in the evenings on our deck. Friends that we can connect with in a real and meaningful way. And though I know it won't happen overnight, I know it can happen- which gives me hope.

Wanna hear the kicker in all of this? I admitted to being on the prowl in all public locations, actively looking for people who might fit with my idea of a friend, right? So in my daily "flip book," called Power of a Praying Woman, this is what it said yesterday:

Don't leave your relationships to chance. Pray for godly people to come into your life with whom you can connect. Don't force relationships to happen, pray for them to happen. Then when they do, nurture them with prayer.

Hmm, perhaps God is asking me to once again hand this area of my life over to him? I'm going to start praying long and hard that He brings us some friends, and I know that when He does, they will be worth the wait.