They've Got My Back

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. -Mother Teresa

If there's one thing I know for certain it's that I have the most supportive friends and family in the entire world.  A lot has been going on lately within the health realm of my life.  I had blood work done at the beginning of Christmas break and then called my PCOS doctor 2 weeks later for the results only to find out that she had walked out of her practice that morning.  What a comfort that was.  But it was time for a change and a second opinion and this time I was being forced to get that second opinion.  I had gotten tired of getting no answers, not knowing exactly what my symptoms were, and the random crying sessions with my roommate whenever a cute commercial came on with a baby on the tv.  My family was concerned with my health and it was time to find someone who would actually give me some answers, so that's what I went out and did. 

My mom booked me for an appointment at High Point Regional Medical Center in hopes for some answers with a new doctor. And answers was exactly what I got.  My new doctor explained everything about PCOS from the very beginning, confirming that I had other symptoms than what my other doctor claimed I had, and that her treatment wasn't the best thing for me to follow.  Although I was little upset that I had been following this bogus treatment for a year and she had misinformed me, I did receive some good news. First off being that my insulin levels were at point level 16 when I was diagnosed, which is 10 points over the average insulin level for girls my age, so that was pretty bad.  However, over the course of the year, even though my symptoms were not going away and no outside changes were being seen, I had managed to drop my insulin level down to 10 points, woot woot, that's only 4 points from being average!! So along with this, I received the most phenomenal news I could hear.  I asked my doctor what the chances were for me to become pregnant and he responded by saying that since we caught the PCOS early in it’s development then I will be able to have children! However, I won’t be able to conceive naturally but will need medication and possible surgery (oy!) but regardless, I would be able to have children and that’s all that matters to me!! 

So with some changes in medications and moving on to see a specialist in Greensboro, along with my two other doctors in High Point and Asheboro, I’m on a set path to a hopeful recovery.  Let’s just pray that things start to work themselves out in someway or another, but we’re all hopeful! 

So now that you know that, the fun part of the story comes along.  Being on the tons of medication I am on, I tend to have the weirdest side effects ever.  There are moments when I just burst into tears for no reason, nights spent sleepless because I worry about everything (thank goodness I have Nate to go to downstairs on these nights), various hyper outbursts in which I can’t stop talking, and then there’s the really weird side effects, like the one that happened the other day in music education class.  I stood up after class only to find myself fall right back into my chair because it felt like my entire back was a pinched nerve and the breath was knocked out of me.  Since this has never happened before I instantly freaked out, but there were bigger things to worry about, like how I was going to get from the School of Music back to my dorm.  So with the help of Samantha and Kristen we managed to get me across the bridge, up the hill, up the stairs, and onto the floor of my room within 20 minutes, the getting on the floor part was a miracle move that’s for sure.

So then Nate comes running in wanting to know what’s wrong with me as I lay on the floor feeling like a vegetable.  We explained that I couldn’t move and the lower right side of my back was in excruciating pain. Nate immediately played doctor, rolling me over on my stomach, massaging my back, and putting hot and cold washcloths on me.  Nothing was working, I still couldn’t move.  In the meantime Sam and Kristen attempted to get off what I call the “ten minute rain boots,” which are the boots that take ten minutes to get on, so just assume that it took twice as  long to get them off and it took two of them.  Finally, we all gave up my old person back pains and Sam and Kristen left for lunch while Nate stayed and babysat me.  This worked out really good because I would have to be rolled over every 15 minutes because the rest of my body would go to sleep since I couldn’t move, so Nate gladly helped me through this. That was until we put on Meditation Station, an amazing meditating podcast, to calm me down.  It worked, I became calm and I also fell asleep.  When I woke up 20 minutes later my whole body was cramped up from not moving. 

“Nate...” I said quietly to the boy laying next to me on the floor. No response.

“Nate?” a little louder, still no response.

“Nate. I can’t move!” Nothing. I tried to turn my head.

“NATE! Wake up!” Slept right through my exclaims. 

So I attempted to roll myself over by flinging my arm over my body, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Finally after a ten minute struggle I was successful! But I woke Nate up in the process, who jumped up and managed hit my legs causing me to yell loudly at the loud pop that came from my back.  But thankfully that pop led to a little more freedom because I could somewhat move again! After attempts to sit up during lunch and my next class I took the time to google “PCOS patients with lower right back pain.” And POOF! the answer was right there on my trusty SoulCysters website, where a link was posted to the website of one of my medications and stated that one of the side effects is lower back pain on the right side. At least we figured out that I just wasn’t getting old or something! I was so thankful to have such amazing people come to my rescue in that time of need, not everyone has someone to crash on the floor with you when your back goes out and I’m one lucky girl. I was also extremely thankful to Cory, Nash, and Will who helped me get my bassoon in and out of it's locker for band rehearsals the next two days! So no matter how much PCOS is a pain in my back, at least I know I have some devoted friends to lean on (and roll me over)! 

-Proverbs 17:22

Catching Up

Happy New Year!! It's a new year and new memories are in store!

So now that you know who we each are and how we came together, it's time to catch you up on what's been happening since we met.  This way we can keep you presently informed after we covered all our bases on our past adventures.  So here we are, some of our favorite moments! 

The Meteor Shower: 

One of our very first nights spent together happened at the beginning of November when the campus erupted with word about a huge meteor shower that could be seen around midnight on Monday night. So of course being the random adventurers we are, we decided that we were going to be there to see this amazing meteor shower. So off we went to go see the shower that was supposed to consist of thousands of falling stars.  We tracked across campus to the golf course and camped out in hopes to see this fascinating moment in universal history. However to our dismay and after three hours of sitting in the cold we only saw one star and even then only Nate and I saw it.  Derek and Kristen were too distracted with Nate screaming that the world was going to end due to the huge size of this star.  But even though the sky let us down that night we still had a wonderful time chasing each other through the woods, taking pictures, and laughing until our sides hurt.  All in all it was a productive night that we all regretted doing when having to wake up for 8 o'clock class but in the end it was totally worth it! 

The Wakka Wakka: 

It's been said that I have a "look." Apparently this look is the glare that I give when I get mad at someone over something.  However, only three people have ever claimed to have seen this look and Derek is not one of them.  So since Derek feels the need to experience this look before he dies he spent (and still spends) much of his time trying to make me mad and earn this look.  Derek and I remain the two people who have almost everything in common including, 80's music, morals and beliefs, and love of Italy and architecture, so there's very little to argue about (even though we do jokingly all the time.) This will remain my favorite Derek moment and has been quoted multiple times in many awkward moments within the gang.  At lunch one day, Derek decided to come up with an "awkward turtle" version of me, called the "awkward Anya." In order to do the awkward Anya you must shape your hands as if you were playing the bassoon, say "Wakka Wakka," throw your hands up and yell "BOOM!" This is apparently the sound the bassoon makes when it explodes... Unfortunately, this did not earn him the look but only laughs from around the table. 

Roadtrips! 

We are the masters of random roadtrips... okay so they aren't really roadtrips but more like getting in the car and going to whatever is within an hours driving distance of Greensboro.  This includes various trips to Target (never let Nate turn your GPS to speak in German, by the way), the mall, Steak and Shake, and random house hunting around downtown.  In this instance Kristen and I decided one day that we were going to go back to Asheboro, where I'm from, to see my high school's performance of Les Miserables. Kristen is obviously the best friend to go to with girl issues and we've spent multiple hours watching Moonlighting until 4 in the morning, getting Starbucks, and talking until our lungs hurt. So off we went with cookie dough and loud indie music playing with the windows rolled down. After the grand tour of Asheboro (that lasted like 15 minutes) we headed to the zoo and climbed the elephant statues before we headed to the amazing show. It's the little moments like this that makes life so beautiful and spending it with best friends is what makes it such an amazing adventure.

Slice of Heaven:

If there's one thing you'll find out about us, it's that we have a serious love of really good food! So after telling the gang about my favorite bakery, Ganache, we had to take a trip to downtown to get a piece of cake.  Ganache probably makes the best cakes that I've ever eaten in my life but on the downside they'll make you gain 5 pounds with one slice.  You think I'm kidding? After we indulged in our Ganache cake, Derek and Kristen both got boxes to take the rest of their cake home.  While heading to the car, Nate and Derek got into a fake fight and Derek put his cake on top of the car. After they finally got done beating each other up we all got into the car and headed out to look at Christmas lights in my favorite historic neighborhood.  An hour later we dropped Derek off at the apartment and when he got out he realized he had left the cake on the top of the car.  But no worries, it was still there even after all those turns and twists in the road.  Like I said Ganache will make you gain 5 pounds and serves as it's own weight when you leave a piece on the top of the car!

Italiano Night: 

The four of us are cooks at heart and enjoy spending our Saturday nights cooking.  The most memorable night we ever spent together was our Italino night that took place at the apartment.  Huge amounts of food were cooked and our friends gathered for a wonderful night of music, lots of alfredo and salad, coconut tarts, a lava lamp, and UFC. Indeed it's a slightly weird mix but it led to some amazing memories and a wonderful time slaving over the stove, cutting up tomatoes, and creating dishes that were made with love and happiness. 

Movie Nights: 

Die Hard, Under the Tuscan Sun,  A Beautiful Mind, The Skeleton Key, King Arthur, and the list goes on.  Our greatest form of entertainment is typically our movie nights. In this case, our movie night consisted of a reenactment of Paranormal Activity, involving Nate and Derek.  I do believe this was the funniest random moment that any of us had ever witnessed.

A Night To Remember: 

The day before finals started we spent the evening at our favorite Gelato place, Coffeeology.  It was a much enjoyable evening that followed the sunny and warm day we had spent hanging out together.  The night gave off a sense of freedom and carefree-ness even though we all knew we had studying ahead of us.  Later that night while working in my room a friend of ours Samantha popped up on my facebook and told me that she was in a lot pain and needed our help.  We rushed over there to find her unable to move due to excruciating pain in her lower abdomen. Even though we all had 8 and 9 AM exams the next morning we went with Sam to the emergency room refusing to leave her side. Before she left we all joined hands and prayed for her and we all know that the little prayer we said before she left made all the difference in the world.  I think Kristen put it best in her facebook note about the situation when she said: "I never thought I'd ever spend so much time in a place that can trigger and hold so many emotions. I've always heard of and had friends who have spent countless hours pacing in waiting rooms, anxious for any news. I never thought I'd be the one to hold their hand when they're afraid and tell them that everything is going to be alright. It is times like this when God is saying,"don't be afraid. I brought you your sister. you are not alone." These times are the times when you look back later and either laugh or smile because you know it's the moment when God strengthened the bond of friendship; the bond of family. " 

That night was followed by countless amounts of worries and fears and later turned into laughs and exhausted comments about stupid things on TV after we passed the point of comprehension. Sam ended up being okay, we all passed the exams, and we all look back on that night as one of the most God filled moments any of us had experienced.  

Italy Bound: 

We're bonded by many things and one them is the love for Europe and architecture.  Although we have this dream about moving to Italy one day we might just have to settle for something else in the meantime.  This is a house by UNCG on Tate Street in which we all fell in love with the moment we saw it. We're living here, end of story.

GeoTrio:

I'm pretty sure Nate, Kristen, and I are the biggest dorks on the campus of UNCG.  We will openly admit that a Monday night hobby would be GeoCaching, a world wide treasure hunt that's run by entering coordinates from the GeoCaching website to your GPS.  So if you see anyone wandering aimlessly around the campus looking under bushes or around light poles, it's probably us.

Mother, Son Days:

I've covered memories with Kristen and Derek so now it's time to cover the best memory of Nate. Lucky for Nate and I, we only live 45 minutes away from each other when we're both at home. So over Christmas he came to see me in Asheboro. Nate is the only member of the family who has witnessed the terror of Anya while watching a live basketball game (this was only my brother's game, let's not get started on my Carolina games!)  I'm apparently a very violent person when it comes to basketball, not that I mean to, I just get really worked up and end up screaming or hitting people on accident.  However, Nate claims that I'm more entertaining than the game itself, so I think it's all worth it in the end. We also are the only two who lives so close together (he lives 102 and we live in 202.)  Nate's ceiling is my floor so he often just goes to his room to only sleep and stays with us the majority of the day.  Over the course of our relationship we've  spent countless amounts of time talking until 3 in the morning, watching movies, ranting about PCOS, going to church together, and eating strawberry ice cream late at night. He's the greatest adopted son any girl could have.  

Ally's Weekend: 

My best friend from high school, Alleson came to spend the weekend with us last weekend.  She currently attends ECU and is seriously considering transferring to UNCG.  We spent the weekend entertaining her around campus and downtown, giving her a glimpse of our everyday life. On Sunday Nate and  I took her to church and later to Elizabeth's Pizza and Maxie B's with us and Derek.  By the time the day was over and she had witnessed the fellowship of our church and the love of each other that we surround ourselves with everyday, she has decided to transfer to UNCG! We're all pretty excited to have Ally join our group  of friends and even more excited that we got to share our story and love with someone!

Family Christmas: 

Since we couldn't spend Christmas together in December, we decided to spend it together once we got back to school on the 18th of January.  And since we didn't have a Christmas tree we used my wooden parrot, Oswaldo, as the guarder of the gifts (yes, you can question why I have a wooden parrot in my dorm.) Even though it was January, the love of Christmas was still there. So it was our first family Christmas together and it was everything you would expect the night to be. :)

So now you're all caught up on the greatest adventures and there's sure to be more in store so thank you to our followers and keep reading! :)

Far From The Typical Family

"Remember as far as anyone knows, we're a nice normal family." 

So why do we refer to ourselves as family, you ask?  

It all started one day in Taco Bell after Church (prior to Nate and Derek's meeting.)  After a very frustrating day that occurred between Derek and Kristen, and me and Frank, Kristen and I both vented to Nate over chicken burritos at 9 at night.  After some serious ranting took place I threw my burrito down and said, "Fine! I've figured it out! Kristen, you can marry Frank, and I can marry Derek, and we can be one huge flippin dysfunctional family!" What was meant to be a serious comment turned into a hilarious statement soon followed by Nate claiming that he also wanted to be a part of our family but he wanted to be the adopted child. 


So from then on we've referred to ourselves as family, minus Frank, who has no idea that any of this has taken place.  But regardless, that's what we are.  When we're away from our real families back home, we always have each other on campus and it's really a wonderful (and often times eventful) thing. 

    

So now you know that we're always

putting the FUN back into the

 term "dysfunctional family!"

An Older Brother?

Ciao! My name is Derek Evans, otherwise known as "Shade." I know that nickname sounds dark at first glance, but I assure you its meaning is not. It is merely my guitarist-stage name, like The Edge and Slash, referencing to my love for creating and finding various "shades and/or hues" in music... I am the oldest member of this famiglia, and the Italian of the group. Yes, I realize that my name does not sound Italian what-so-ever. Like Kristen, I also have ancestors from more than one country - namely Welsh (Evans), Spaniard (Azai and Leone), German (Claussan), and of course, Italian (Cavallini). I typically claim the Italian roots over the others, merely for my love of all things Italian, from automobiles, to music, to the food and language, and of course, the girls... I mean palazzos and villas...



Well, these are the basics about me. Here is my side of the story:



I have been close friends with the Thai for quite a while now. We both attended the same high school in Asheville, both sang in it's Advanced Ensemble, and both attended a certain Christian organization known as "Shine." I was merely 1 graduating class ahead of her. Eventually the time came for me to move past high school into the purely chaotic world of college. Oye. My first year lead me into a warm group of people whom are mostly from the Charlotte area. Yes, we are all still great friends who clicked really well and have been growing spiritually for over a year now. We found a good church, got planted, and are still growing, and are very much our own little family. Yes, we have experienced some rocky bits, and have not always seen eye-to-eye, but we have endured...



A wonderful year passed by, and a new academic year began. Kristen ended up here at the same university, and it was this semester in that I began to meet a new batch of extraordinary people. I met one of the Germans at a concert held by one of my favorite bands, mae, which I also drug the Thai to see. This first German was also in my English class, (irony? I think not.) we had just never really met. Thus began a joyful relationship, held together by me teasing my young female friends. But, this was not the end of this new family. Closer towards the end of that semester, I was introduced to another German - another dude! Huzzah! Not a bad group of freshmen, if I do say so myself.

Now, this is the second family I am apart of, and wouldn't you know, the bond has all been the same. Through Christ, yes most obviously, but there was another fashion - the parlour of a dorm - the exact same way my first college family bonded together. I have high hopes for this newest family that I have been introduced into, and will do my best to make it not so dysfunctional - as a split is not too desirable.

Well, there you have it. God works in crazy ways, and pairs you with crazy people that you just can't shake off... Totally kidding about that last part. Its a great group, and an honor to be a part of it.

God Bless,
~The Shade

Our Story: Told from 5 foot 4 and 3/4ths inches!

I'm Kristen Elizabeth David :) I'm the shortest of the four and quite proud of it! And to let you in on another secret, I'm only half asian. Yes, I know, you're disappointed, but trust me, it's a lot easier to say that I'm "Asian". In reality, I am one-half Thai, one-fourth Jewish/Lebanese and one-fourth Scotch-Irish of French descent :)..... yes, I know. I'm studying choral music education and I love to sing, especially for the glory of the Almighty God that provides education, provisions and everlasting friendships with the three people that I love dearly in this blog.

To start off with, it is probably important to mention that Derek and I are both from Asheville, NC and attended the same high school. The story of our acquaintance is rather amusing for my Sophomore year my car-coveting eyes happened to be captured by a gorgeous blue Ford Mustang with white racing stripes and I instantly fell in love! I kept seeing it everywhere around town as well as in the Junior parking lot at the high school! I hadn't a clue who drove the darn thing, but at this point it didn't matter: That was one amazing vehicle. Then one night while on stage crew for our school's Advanced Ensemble, I happen to see that beautiful painted stallion pull into the parking lot and out came this tall, dark and handsome Italian fella preparing for a choir production! Alas, after a short confession to falling in love with his car, as well as my admittance into the Advanced Ensemble the following year, our friendship took off and has been great ever since :)

And so, I began my first semester of college confident because of my relations and friendships with those who were older than I. During the summer, Derek had introduced me to his roommate, Will, who was also a music education major. The three of us were quickly becoming good friends as time unfolded. Derek and Will invited me to their church on Wednesdays and Sundays and I quickly discovered my church family and outlet for God and fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. One night a few weeks into the semester, Derek informed me that one of his favorite bands, Mae, was coming to Greene Street Club for a concert and he invited me and Will to join him. However, all that day certain circumstances kept arising that repetitively changed my mind about going. At one point, the both of us had decided not to go until Derek realized that he loved the band too much to not jump at the opportunity. I realized that if he liked them so much then it must be worth seeing, so I made my final decision to go with the two of them. Boy, was I glad I did that.

On September 25th, 2009, Greene Street was pretty packed. There was so much cigarette smoke that it was difficult for me to breathe, but even though Will offered to step outside with me, I wanted to stay for the show. As I milled about with the two people that I felt amazingly safe with, I came across a friend of mine from the School of Music who happened to be one of Will's studio buddies. With him was a girl that I knew was also a music major because she was in one of our classes and I had seen her picture on one of the assignments we were given. She told me her name was Annaliese and we talked for a few brief minutes while it was relatively quiet and found out some coincidences such as we were both there at the concert with one of our best friends from high school. When the bands started back up with their playing, we were limited to texting each other as conversation so we enjoyed the rest of the night and the music.

After that night, the weeks went by and Annaliese began having lunch with me, Will and Derek because it happened that Derek and Annaliese were in the same English class, fancy that! Then one morning at breakfast while attempting to watch the musical "Wicked" on Annaliese's laptop, I invited her to the "small group" Bible study that Derek and I were a part of at the church and she eagerly came with me. Some miscellaneous stories were shared during small group, and after sobbing over my brother's car accident a few years back (oh, I cry over everything if something moves me to do so) Derek (as one of the leaders) directed the topic towards abortion and how some women would do anything for a child they didn't have.

Annaliese had barely said anything during the entire discussion, so when we got back to campus, I asked her what she thought of the discussion and it was then that she explained to me about PCOS and why she had been so silent. I was... surprised and amazed, you could say. I was so surprised that someone could have lived through what she has already lived through and be so happy at the time. It made me admire her for her strength. I definitely would have fallen apart if something like that had happened to me. Annaliese kept mentioning how she had only told this information to a handful of people, and yet she seemed so trusting that it was hard to believe at first. Regardless, I was happy to be there and listening. And no, I didn't once think that she was pulling a pity card or anything to get me to like her. I realized that God had given me a friend that I knew would be there for me and I for her. I even found myself telling her about the issues that were troubling me such as the difficulties that Derek and I were going through in our friendship.

Then one poor child walked up with a broken bicycle chain... :) Nate was just as easy to make friends with. His charisma and charm drew me in so much that it was hard not to like him. As the three of us talked that faithful night in the parlor, I slowly began to realize that God was piecing together a wonderful friendship with people who were amazingly rock-solid in their faith and beliefs; something that I had been searching for because I had begun to waver. After finally convincing Derek that he wasn't ever "intruding" in on our bonding and that we wanted him to be with us more often, God began to seal the seams of our friendships into an incredibly crazy and dysfunctional family.

As a permanent minority throughout my life- Asian, left-handed, Yankee, short, etc. I feel like I finally have a place where I fit in: among the music, smiles, and laughter of two Germans and an Italian. God has certainly picked an amazing place for me <3

Meine Geschichte- The story of a German

When reading an account through my eyes, you won’t come across eloquent words or bizarre statements gilded with superficial expressions. You’re more likely to find a very simple, very straightforward retelling of the events that have essentially transpired since my arrival at UNC-Greensboro. What took place in a mere semester, threw me through a few of the largest ups and downs I may have ever experienced in my short 19 years. But I’ll get to that soon. It might be more prudent to give myself a bit of an introduction.

HEY KIDS! I’m Nate. I’m a cellist, a linguist (albeit self-proclaimed), a friend to many, an enemy to few, and above all else, a follower of Jesus Christ.

Living, loving, and being myself is essentially what started me off on this whirlwind of a semester. Starting out at college, I knew that I would come to find whatever I went looking for. If I wanted wild parties and promiscuous sexual encounters: HEYA!! There they are; I found them!! If I wanted join a fraternity (essentially the same wild parties and promiscuous sex scandals but with some drugs thrown in…) well, there they go! I would find it! If I went looking for Christians and good people, I knew I would likewise find them. So that’s what I set out to find. My first few days at school were spent hanging out with the people in my dorm and getting to know my roommate, but once classes had started up, I began the hunt to get to know people and find my clique. I’ve always been fairly outgoing and very friendly, so it wasn’t hard finding people to talk to. As a cellist performing in the symphony orchestra, I am assigned a stand partner. My stand partner is a really wonderful girl named Mae (I'm changing her name to protect her identity, and yes, Mae is the band that Annaliese, Derek, and Kristen love), and it was an amazing experience getting to know her. We talked together, hung out together, began going to church together, and it was bliss! She, myself, and a few other people went to church and classes together and we became inseparable. We shortly became best friends and I was beyond content. Months went by with no problems until one night Mae and I ventured a party for string players. After the party had gone on for a while (I was off on my own having merry conversations about Germany) I came to find that my best friend, an underage Christian, had been drinking. I didn’t know what to do, so I left. The choice to leave the situation had a dramatic impact upon our little group and for the next few days I was literally ostracized. No one would talk to me, interact with me, or even look at me. Even at church, my friends were avoiding me. The question was why? Why was I being treated like this when I did the right thing by leaving a bad situation? I didn’t know and I prayed like I’d prayed in few other instances in my life. God gave me the strength to face the group and to talk it out. Mae’s drinking had brought other issues to surface, and we began to work fixing everything. We did! Everything was fixed (at least we had thought), but we were happy and once again we were the cheerful little group we had once been. It’s difficult to explain where that led. It’s such a blur in my own mind that I’m not sure what to make of it, or how I’d write it down, but I’ll do my best.

Our church does an amazing Christmas program every year, and part of setting up that program is getting the orchestra ready. The orchestra at the church for the most part consisted of the people within our group of friends, and it was growing so rapidly that God was getting all of my praise. The problem was, however, that some people didn’t want to commit to it. People didn’t show up to rehearsals and began to skip out on playing on Sundays altogether, and needless to say, my best friend Katie and I confronted it and told them that they needed to get it in gear. The church took very good care of us and the least anyone could do was to show a little appreciation by doing what they signed up to do. The director of the orchestra would drive the van over every Wednesday to pick us up for practice, and then many times, he would take us all to Steak’n’shake afterwards and pay for our dinners if we hadn’t already gotten our meal before rehearsal. In short, people were being ungrateful and for all that the church had given to us. People were unwilling to give back the only thing there was to give. Their 15 minutes of playing on Sundays.

Tensions ran high, and I began to feel like it was time for me to find new friends. There was unresolved bitterness from the last blowout and little arguments began to resurface and escalate. New things were blowing up such as dating issues between guys and gals in the group and the strain of people leaving and joining the group was causing more stress of its own. I was just tired of dealing with the petty high school drama. It was back to being me and God.

In the past, we used to always do homework together in Mae’s room, but since I was for the most part finished with them, I wanted to get away. So I went to seclude myself to study in the library. The library was a good place to study, but how could I study in a little box? I couldn’t. So I took all the stress to God. Once I had decided that I couldn’t sit alone anymore and that enough was enough, I got up and walked my poor bike back to my dorm. My bike was having (still is having) issues with gears and the seat that I’ve not had time to look at yet, but coming back to the dorm, there were two girls that I had seen regularly in the music school and walking around campus. I had never said anything more than “Hey, how are you?” to either one of them, and yet here they were standing at the front door looking very torn up about something.

Stressed about my own issues, and seeing that they were upset was a good opportunity to get my mind onto other things by showing some compassion and being there for someone else. So, with my friendly self and my dejected bike (which they still make fun of me about) I started up a conversation. After saying hi, and introducing myself, they introduced themselves as Annaliese and Kristen and told me they were having some deep girl talk, but I said something to the effect of: “Awesome let’s go inside and talk about it then! You need someone to talk to, so I’ll listen!”

That night was the first night that I knew God was working. We got along so well, and Annaliese told Kristen and me about her fight with PCOS, and the other things she was dealing with in her life. I had just met the poor girl and already she was telling me her life story. I didn’t understand how she could open up to a complete stranger, and at once I had the greatest respect for her. I couldn’t feel sorry for the pains she had gone through or the trials she had persevered, I could only look up to her. The things that I dealt with in my life were so insignificant compared to this girl’s fight that I had no choice but to ask her how. I asked her about God, and she told me how much God had helped her through, and I was so relieved to find out that the same God that had never failed to bring me through was also being there for someone else. The relationship between the three of us began to feel so natural that despite having known each other for a few hours (it was well into the night when we went off to bed) it felt as though we’d known each other our whole lives.

So the friendships grew. I began eating lunch with them and was finally introduced to Derek, who just like Kristen and Annaliese, was someone I instantly clicked with. Very quickly, we became very close and almost as inseparable as Mae and I had been, but I was still hesitant to commit to a friendship when the last one wasn’t resolved yet. The stress and pain leftover from my last friends was still tearing me apart. Weeks went by, and at church and in class, there was that same tension. I was so tired of it. So, I prayed again, and asked for the strength to let God do whatever He wanted to do. God apparently wanted me to confront the issue head on one last time. So I did. I talked to Mae after our rehearsal one night, and I put everything out in the open. I kept nothing from her, and I believe that she was equally forthcoming. This wasn’t something that was easy, in fact I was almost in tears thinking about our lost friendship and blabbing my heart out to her. How had something so good turned into something so awful? But, she and I made our amends, and I followed her to her room and apologized to everyone and gave them my bit. It was a wonderful feeling of relief! I knew that with this, we could all go back to being great friends again, but this time we’d be stronger! But… standing in that room with all those smiling faces, and all the hope that was in me to get things back how they were was overshadowed by this small realization that I really didn’t want to go back to them. When I left the room and walked back to my dorm building I knew that I would never set foot in Mae’s dorm again, and that I had made my peace with them. Peace (for me anyway) in this situation was letting go.

God didn’t want me dealing in that relationship anymore for some reason that I didn’t yet understand, and even though I only knew Annaliese, Kristen, and Derek for a couple weeks, I did know that I was willing to give up everything I used to have for the three of them. God works in amazing mysterious ways. There are people He puts into our lives: friends for seasons and friends for lifetimes and both are equally important. While Mae and I were best friends for a season, and we’ll get along fine, I know that what I have with Kristen, Annaliese, and Derek is going to last for a lifetime!

(left to Right)Nathan, Derek, Annaliese, and Kristen on the way to Coffeeology