Growing pains

I'm hurting inside today...nothing major, just a dull ache. Growing pains. I wonder how things got to this point-and then I remember that just because I'm 25 doesn't mean that friendship gets any easier. I just hope I've learned enough from my past experiences to salvage something this time. A buddy of ours blogged about scars a few weeks ago..how the outside scars we bear can be a metaphor for our inside pain. How, sometimes, we try to cover up the biggest ones because of the way they look to other people...when really, we should perhaps take a page out of a teenage boy's manuel and show them off, talk about them...maybe brag a little..."Man, look at this one! You should have seen me fly off that bike!! It was sweeeet..." We all have the scars. Nothing to be ashamed of-some of mine I'm actually quite proud of, now, because they are the evidence that not only did I go through pain, but God gave me the strength to survive it. Now if I can just remember in the moment to USE what I've learned.
Being real is one of the traits that I value most in people. It wasn't always this way, but I've discovered the gold that realness holds. Sometimes people who are real are misunderstood...seen as abrasive, or rude, or arrogant, or, one of the biggest offenders in "church" world....."not nice". But they are real!! And usually, they are right. Maybe their delivery could use a little polish...but give me someone who is real but a bit crusty any day over someone who is nice but not entirely truthful. If you're both..nice and real, that is..sweet!! However. I have my doubts that if Jesus was walking on earth today, we'd use the term "nice" to describe him. Kind, loving, brutally honest (always), passionate, articulate, wise, compassionate....I don't know about "nice". God, I don't want to be "nice". I want to be like Jesus. Give me the ability to be real with people. To not only show my scars, but to learn from them and use that learning in future situations. Compassion in my speech and actions, wisdom from on high in my head, and the ability to always see people as infinitely precious because you made them. They need no other reason to be loved by me; just as you love me unconditionally because you created me. Thank you, Lord. You are sovereign......