The other day, I had a wonderful conversation with one of the teachers at a school where I used to volunteer. She is a terrific English teacher, and I have a ton of respect for the way she runs her classroom. She also happens to be a Christian whose relationship with God spans four decades.
So anyway, we had a conversation about how we could pray for each other, and then we just talked about God for a little while. I was enthralled by the way she spoke about her faith--she was completely honest, sincere, and unwavering in what she told me. I walked away from our time together feeling totally refreshed and encouraged.
I was trying to figure out what made this talk so meaningful, and then I realized something: I can't remember the last time I talked to a Christian over the age of 30 about faith. I love the church I attend and the Bible study I belong to, and I have wonderful believers in my life who challenge me and keep me accountable, but we're all still weathering our 20's. We're passionate and we care about truth, but we have some pretty severe deficits in perspective. I think what stood out to me most about my time with my teacher friend is her description of what it has been like to live and doubt and love and struggle with God through multiple seasons of life. She has been praying for non-believing friends for years and reading her Bible daily for decades. To put THAT into perspective: I get frustrated when I've been praying about something for a month and nothing changes.
This isn't to say that I'm harboring any illusions about being perfected by the time I'm 60, just that I'm coming to realize that it's kind of laughable that I used to talk about the verses in Hebrews 12 about running the race with endurance as if I totally knew what I was talking about. And as someone whose beliefs don't match those of her parents, I am really in need of some "actual" adults (as I like to refer to people who have left their 20's behind) in my life to keep me honest and remind me that trusting Jesus is a journey, not a one-time accomplishment.
