ass~u~me

The thing about women is that we always assume the girl next door, the women across the aisle, the mom with the baby-on-board sign, your husband’s best friend’s wife, your cousin, great aunt or the stranger in the dressing room next to you at the mall has it figured out.

Whether “it’s” how to balance motherhood, or how to manage her temper or style her hair or stock her fridge or connect with her husband or make new friends, or well, anything else really. We’re always certain we’re the only one who feels awkward or incompetent or left out or frumpy or you-name-it.

We been attending a new church for the past several months now, and I wondered if I was the only one who felt squirmy awkward in her skin during the “shake each others hands and greet someone” section of the worship service; that we have on most Sundays.   After all, my thinking was that we’re new and shouldn’t they be making us feel welcome.   And I sort of thought God might be nudging me to do something about it.

I resisted for a good long time.    

And then one day after church I found myself walking over and signing up for a Ladies Bible study.

Oh boy! ~ what have I gone and done now.. .. .. . I have huge anxiety walking in to a room alone where everyone else knows each other and I am new and don’t really know a soul and then I have to find a place to sit… and. ..  gah!

But lo and behold, it’s never, no never as bad as I imagine it to be.  I over assume things and end up scared out of my mind.  Getting to know each other can be hard and perhaps a little uncomfortable ~ but I’m learning that making friends doesn’t happen overnight or even over a handshake at church. 

So when I meet new women now I’m over assuming that they’ve got it all figured out. Especially the friend part.

I know now, that maybe all I have to do is ask and there’ll be a new friend waiting on the other side of the question.   

Blessings