Seeing things that have been there all along

So, a wonderful, dear friend of mine wrote about "fitting in" (I think) and I wanted to comment on her blog but figured I'd just go ahead and post one myself. 

I used to want to fit in so badly. Then, I got to the point where I thought I didn't care. I was wrong. I still wanted to fit in and it always seemed like the people I wanted to get the closest to were the ones that seemed so distant and far away from me. They seemed to show no interest in me, my life, or who I was. That's when God started to deal with me. He probably had been for a while but I guess I was just too caught up in what I wanted rather than what I already had. This became more and more evident to me as the people I wanted to "fit in" with started doing things I didn't want to do or didn't think was appropriate. They also seemed to become even more distant, which I thought was impossible. Then, it hit me. I had so many people that I had rejected spending time with that actually wanted to spend time with me and I was so caught up into fitting in with new and different people, that I didn't even see the blessing that was right in front of me for God only knows how long. 

After I started to invest my time into their lives and growing closer to them, my desire to "fit in" no longer consumed my thoughts through the day and my prayers at night. I now prayed that God would continue to grow these wonderful relationships that I was a part of and now. I have a select few people that I know love me and want to spend time with me and want to invest in my life as much as I want to in theirs, too. 

Each day, I thank God for these people. If they don't know who they are, I pray right now that I can somehow tell or show them that in the next week. People need to know that they are loved and appreciated and that's why I try so hard all the time to let people know that I love them and care about them and what's going on in their lives. If you truly love someone, no matter what kind of love it is, you'll want to spend time with them, hear their problems and struggles, and most importantly, see them grow closer to God each and every day. 

It's still hard sometimes knowing that people may not want to be your friend and may not want to invest their time in your life like you want to invest your time in theirs but just remind yourself of those that do and most importantly, The One that cares more about you than anything in this world.