11.24.2002

these flights connect in arizona but i think i'll stay stuck

Tonight a student came up to me and asked to talk to me one-on-one after youth group. I don't know the guy very well, I was honored that he would feel comfortable talking to me like that. So we go out back and he asks me how to get over being depressed - he hasn't had a girlfriend in a while and he's sick of being told he's "just a friend." I had to keep myself from bursting out with laughter at the irony. I could practically write a book on "just friends" angst and depression.

I found though as I searched for a way to talk to him that I didn't have an easy answer for him. I stumbled my way through what has helped me - finding out what God has made me for and going for that. Realizing it's ridiculous to assume that every girl that gets to know you is going to want to go out with you - and therefore ridiculous to assume something's wrong with you if you don't have a girlfriend or you get a lot of "friend" speeches. Stuff like that. These things that I have learned to put in my head and that occasionally leak down to my heart to make me feel better. I tried to tell him that the only thing that ever really pulls me out of depression is God. I hope I got it all through okay. It amazes me that God puts me in these positions. I struggle with exactly the same thing this kid was talking about - I guess that makes me a good candidate to talk to him about it. I just wish I'd solved it so I could tell him how. Welcome to the journey of life.

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