To be known

My church is having a women's gathering this Friday night, with the specific purpose of getting to know each other on a deeper level. I think a few of the gals who have been at the church forever have recently realized that we now have many more women who have started coming (myself included), and we don't all know each other very well. The "old group" knows each other really well, and maybe haven't been very purposeful about getting to know the newer ones. I'm glad they've realized it and am glad they are reaching out.

I feed off social gatherings, so I'm very excited. I love to know others and long to be known. I love getting to know a woman, but hate that initial phase of just saying "hi, how are you...oh, good..." to one another and talking through the pleasantries. I long to get past that and am sad when I realize that I won't be able to move beyond it with a particular friend. I only have a couple female friends right now who really know me - one whom I've been able to "move beyond" with, and I love it. I cherish them. I'm actually not a very private person (that probably isn't a shock to you, given that I write about everything on here. I tend to lay it all out there in hopes that a gal will see something in me that clicks with her and we'll become friends. I don't know what to do with people that are overly private.

At the women's gathering on Friday, we're going to interview a few women to get to know them more. There will be a woman who has been at the church for a long time, one for a medium amount of time, and one for a pretty short amount of time. Guess what? They asked me to be the "shorter time" person. I instantly said yes because I'm comfortable talking in groups, I'm not that private, and I really long to be known and develop deeper friendships.

They sent me some sample interview questions. This is just supposed to be an interactive way for me to tell my testimony and share about myself, so I'm supposed to let them know which questions apply to my "story" and which don't.

I've read over the questions and decided that this is really intimidating! I've scheduled this evening to be set aside just for reflecting. I'm not sure what I'm going to say for most of these questions. I think it really would be easier to just tell my story, but I'd probably leave out some things that the questions will bring out.

Here are a sampling:

• Was there a significant event in your life that brought you to salvation or drew you closer to the Lord? Tell us about the context and how it affected you.
• If your salvation brought any dramatic changes to your life, paint a before and after picture for us.
  
• Tell us about a miracle you've witnessed and the impact it had on your life.
  
• What sacrifices has God led you to make? What have you learned?
• What were your dreams before you met Christ and how have they changed?

These are just a few. Oh my. I've been so busy lately; I'm not feeling very reflective. I'm also feeling a little depressed, so I need to clear my head and ask God to show me what is true in my life, what He has done, and how He has worked. I want to give Him the glory for all that is good, but I'm in a mood where "all the good" isn't the first thing that comes to mind.

I'm very thankful that God is merciful and kind, and He is constant - regardless of my mood. God is who He is, and that my moods don't define Him.