Day 76 - bridging the generation gap

Tonight was a very interesting night. I don't even know where to begin. I went to two different gatherings tonight. The first one was cell group with the university/college group. I finally decided to attend. It was just a relaxing night of hanging out and going for ice-cream. I only knew two of the girls there, Janet and Annabella. (The two girls who took me on that crazy hike a couple of weeks ago. I really like hanging out with those two, just as long as they don't take me hiking again! haha! jks.) So it was really great to finally meet and hang out with people my age. We sat outside the ice-cream store just talking about school, where we're going to go with our studies, living on campus, life in Calgary, life in Toronto and just random stuff. They wanted to do something else after ice-cream but I had somewhere else to go. My second get-together was coffee with my working friend and a bunch of her friends. So my new university friends drop me off at the coffee shop and went off to do something else. Coffee was really fun. We were all from a mixture of backgrounds and places like the States, Edmonton, Toronto... but somehow we were all strangely connected to each other one way or another. We talked about so many things and we laughed so much!

There are so many things going through my mind right now. I had so many different conversations today and I'm trying to remember and process it all. One conversation that really sticks out in my mind is one in the coffee-shop. The one married couple told us how the two of them met and got married. The man told us how he was totally against long distance relationships but when he met his now wife, the long distance relationship actually worked out for them. He also told us how, just two months into their relationships, he knew that she was the ONE! that threw me back a bit. It always blows me away when people tell me they know that person is the ONE they're going to spend the rest of their lives with. How do they know? How do they KNOW someone is the one in such a short time? When I ask people how they know, they say "I just KNOW!" How can they be so certain about these things? My past experiences has taught me that nothing is certain except the promises of God. Things can change, circumstances can change, people can change, feelings can change. Maybe people know that it is the promise of God that that person is the ONE! but how do they know?!?! It really bothers me. Well, I guess you just know when you know...

The two groups of people that I hung out with tonight were quite different. It was fun to hang out with the university group, I felt relaxed and it felt like I was hanging out with my friends back home. With the career group, I was a little nervous. My friend pointed out to me when she dropped me off tonight that there was a good 20 years difference between me and one of the guys. Wow, now I feel like a little kid. But at the end of the night, I got a lot from hanging with the career people. I don't know why people my age don't hang out with older people more often. They're so much fun! We talked a lot about things that I've been struggling with but never knew how to approach. Spending time with these people and hearing how they have dealt or are dealing with their issues have given me new perspectives. It might not be the same answers for me but it does help me reflect more and possibly come up with answers that are right for me. Plus, our conversations were so much more interesting than talking about school.

It's like having that up, down, out thing. I see the university cell group as my "out". People who understand what I might be going through right now because they're going through the same thing. We might not be able to help each other much since we're all at the same place but at least we can share and understand each other and not feel alone. I see the career people as my "ups". They've offered me so much wisdom and insight and they know what I'm going through because they've been there themselves, although they might have to think really, really far back! har har! Anyways, I like hanging out with them. It's kinda neat, I feel like I'm bridging the generation gap!