The Best Kept Secret...

I was talking to a friend from college tonight. Well, not a same-age-as-me type friend, but more like a wonderful Godly example/mentor/adopted mom friend...and a "you will make your bed everyday" and learn to be a "grown-up" by eating things like salad and vegetables at our house, and saving chores for me on Saturday night, and teaching me to mow someone's lawn kind of friend....lol :)
She and her family were a blessing to me while I was far away from my own family during my time at OBU. I lived with them several summers while I took classes, and spent many hours visiting at their house throughout my semesters.

Ms. J has always been an encourager to me and someone who challenges me to keep my standards high and trust God with His perfect plan for me and the many ways He wants to use me. And...she loves to pray. So, when we talk about my desire to be married and have a family one day, of course she encourages me in the fact that God has a plan for that too. And we pray together. I think she and some ladies from my college church have been praying for my future husband since I graduated a few years ago, and even while I was in college. They also were convinced for a long time that since I was moving to a town called Waynesville, of course it would make sense for me to meet a man named Wayne and marry him. It's been four years, though, and I still haven't met Wayne. Or his brother...or his brother's friend....or his cousin...or his nephew.....or his.....well, you get the idea! haha

And sometimes that's a little frustrating. I go back and forth between being thankful for this time God has given me - this freedom to just have fun, take care of myself only, go on road trips when I want to, spend time with friends, work, start a masters degree, and so much more...and that overwhelming desire to meet the man God has in store for me and have a family.

I also, as most women do, struggle with wondering what someone will "notice" about me someday...and knowing that just because I didn't meet my husband in college, in high school, or even in the almost four years since graduating college, I'm not "odd." Just unique...and as my friend put it, "the best kept secret around..." haha When she said that I had to smile. There really are a lot of things people don't know about me - my passion for traveling the world and serving others, my former Amazon alligator hunting adventures, my love for playing drums and banging on loud percussion instruments, my joy in writing, my secret desire to go to a hockey game and watch the guys fight with their sticks, my goofy sense of humor which often leads to the infamous "laugh-cry" my sister likes to bring out at every chance...and so much more. So there you have it, friends...maybe one day I'll meet that one guy who will say, "Wow! You're the best kept secret around, and I've been waiting to find you for a long time!" Or at least, "Hey, you're pretty cool...maybe we should hang out together." I wouldn't mind that either, you know.

A girl can hope, right?...