The thing about me diving into the conservative church in my 20s was that I did it BIG. That's how I do things. The friends who'd been in the church most of their lives, as well as the friends who are still there now, seem to be able to handle it better than I did. They seem to keep their wits about them, hold themselves together a little better. But I was new and darn it if I wasn't the most earnest church girl you ever met.
Things I did at my most earnest in the mid 90s which my friends tolerated:
Like the time I was driving down the interstate listening to Dave Matthews' "Crash," was convicted that he was a stumbling block for me because his little foot dancing made me feel tingly and confused, and flung his CD out the window. I know what you're thinking. There are many good reasons to fling it out the window, but that's not the point. Later my friend invited me to his concert. Obviously I declined and sorrowfully recounted the flinging incident, probably hoping she'd save herself by flinging her tickets. She did not. #JesusHatesTinglingMoreThanLittering?
Or the time I shared a room with my friend during a girls' weekend. She was pregnant and mentioned her varicose veins. On a different weekend, she'd have been out in the living room, drinking wine and laughing with the rest of our friends. Instead, her roommate decided to pray aloud over her legs.
How about the time a guy friend asked me for advice on asking out a girl he liked. I suggested he fast about it. He was not as grateful as you'd expect. On second thought, he was exactly as grateful as you'd guess. I don't know how it turned out, but I know they're not married currently. #MaybeShouldHaveFasted
I cringe and giggle a little looking back. My friends who knew me before these rode it out patiently. And my friends in the church might have laughed a little, but never got super impatient with me. Really they could've said, "Dude, take it down a notch. Even Jesus is embarrassed."
It taught me something though. If you do something with enough earnestness and confidence, people will just let you. That's not always bad. When I look back. I don't exactly miss that little earnest girl, but I don't hate her either. Neither do they.💛