Skipping rocks across a glassy lake in the woods is a favorite past time of mine. So is pushing massive rocks into lakes, but that doesn’t tie in with my illustration for this post. Just thought I would throw it out there (get it) to preserve my manliness and maintain the theory that if you bring a man to water, I guarantee he will throw something into it.
Anyways, back to skipping rocks.
At this point in my life, living in DC for a summer internship, I feel as though I have two options.
- Find a group of friends, a church, a small group, etc., and settle in. (Sink)
- Bounce around friend groups, try a few churches, try a small group, etc. (Skip)
You see, I’m only here for 3 months, and then it’s straight back to school. If I were to really try and sink into my environment here, my efforts would be uprooted in August and who knows if I will ever end up back in DC again. The other side of the sink argument is that I could find a solid group of people, get to know them, live life with them, and embrace and be encouraged by a small community of friends that would enrich my time in the city no matter how short.
And then there comes the skipping argument.
Instead of trying to settle in, find solid friends, and a small group, what if I were to try out lots of places, hang out with a lot of different people and skip around? This is a very fun idea and it keeps my plans for any day of the week wide open to do as I please. It also means that I have the opportunity to go “rogue” and be anonymous in a big city, which is very fun by the way.
I have chosen to skip.
But then the loneliness sets in. The realization that you don’t have someone to talk to or hang out with on a consistent basis happens quickly. Your encouragement through the week comes through phone calls from your girlfriend and staying rooted in the word and prayer. Feeling anonymous isn’t fun anymore and you yearn for someone to know your name, even if it’s as trivial as being known at a bike shop. Weekends are filled with awesome plans sometimes, and other times they are boring and lonely.
But I love it.
You see, I needed these personal experiences so bad! I needed to know what it’s like truly feel lonely because I never have. I needed to know what it’s like to go out and establish a reputation with my co-workers. I needed to live as an individual and take true responsibility for my own decisions. In all honesty, I just needed to grow up.
And that’s why I think skipping around is okay. We need to have these deeply personal experiences that nobody else can experience for us because, well, we just do. God then uses these experiences, I think, to isolate you from everything you have known and then makes a very strong case for only being able to rely on Him for your everything.
I am so thankful for this time in my life when I am free to fail, feel, and skip around. I needed this adventure to gain confidence in my faith and truly understand what God wants to do with my life and who he wants me to be. These personal experiences are invaluable and I am overwhelmed with joy for God’s provision.
To skip or sink? Well, rocks can’t skip forever.
