What My Friends Have Taught Me

     Here's my attempt to sum up a few of the things my friends at JBU have taught me in the past 9 months since I first met them.

1) Walk slowly- They often have to call me back, or tell me to slow down when we're walking. I walk so quickly sometimes that I walk backwards and still stay ahead of them. I think I am catching on, though. Yesterday I caught myself meandering on the quad.

2) Listen- I am convinced that the ability to listen well is one of the most important skills anyone can develop. My friends have taught me that listening is one of the greatest gifts you could ever give someone.

3) Neatness- My roommate Leslie is one the neatest people I have ever met. Living with her over the past semester has made me realize how much I like everything being clean. Seriously, when everything is clean and neat it makes me so happy!

4) Prayer- So often I think I can make it on my own, and then I fall. My friends have helped me to remember that taking it to God does make a difference.

5) Don't plan too much- I have always been a control freak about my time, often not spending time with my friends because I "have" to do something. My friends have helped me realize that I do not always "have" to do it all. Sometimes it is good to live outside the practice room.

6) Drink Chai- They all have leather tongues from drinking piping hot chai since they were children. If you are reading this, and you do not know what chai is, go to the store, buy milk, sugar, and chai tea bags. Go home, make the tea, drink it, and ask yourself what on earth you have been doing with your life up until now.

7) Family- In a way that's what my friends here have become. They encourage me, they listen to me, they hang out with me, and they come to my piano recitals (even though not all of them want to come). Being a family means we don't always get along but we push through it because we all love God and we love each other.

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