Staying Strong

"So Kattarin tell me about your friends."

"Why?"

"Because if I know about your friends then I'll know about you."

This is how a conversation started out between my great-uncle Bob and myself ten years ago. By the end of the conversation he had become one of my favorite people and to this day after only a handful of talks in the last ten years he's still one of people I respect most in my life.

Ten years ago I didn't understand what Uncle Bob's point was. I didn't think that my friends could really play such a big part in my decisions but I was wrong. The people we surround ourselves with will play a huge part in our lives, from the decisions we make to the past times we enjoy.

Let me put it this way. If all of your friends like to go swimming and you don't then at first you just go to the river or the pool with them. You stay on the shore, watching them splash and play around in the water. But eventually you get tired of staying out of the water, you want to be with your friends and after a while, maybe a month, maybe a year, you jump in too. It's human nature.

The last couple weeks I've attended a graduation ceremony, two graduation parties, and had three other people close to me celebrate graduations from college. The other day I looked at one of these young women who had just graduated and I started thinking about what a wonderful young lady she has grown up into but I also thought about how many decisions she'll be facing soon in the next few years at college.

Who she surrounds herself with will play a big part in the decisions she makes. As her friends head out of their homes some of them are making decisions that are contrary to everything they've been taught for the last eighteen years.

My advice for that young woman, for all young people who are heading out to college or the work force or the military or whatever other life path, I encourage you to stay strong, hold to what you believe, surround yourself with people that will build you up and tell you the truth, share God's word with you and encourage you to make the right decision. If you have people in your life who are bringing you down then maybe it's time you revaluated not just your life path but also who you want to walk down that path with.

Stay strong my friends, my prayers are with you.