People Need People

HEYO!!!! Not sure how I feel about that greeting, aren’t I supposed to come off as somewhat professional on this thing?! Yikes. Anywayyys, life has been so crazy lately. To clarify, the good kind of crazy. The kind where everything speeds up and your weekly screen time plummets. My family and I are officially moved to Jupiter, I just finished my summer classes with FSU and have developed a serious obsession with vanilla sweet cream cold brews in the meantime. Yes, I felt that was important enough to include in my update on where I’ve been for the past two months.

I’ve been so go, go, go recently. Every week has been a different place with new faces and unpredictable cell service. With life being the impulsive, yet quietly calculated, and beautiful mess that it is, I found myself in Panama City Beach two weekends ago. My daily afternoon Instagram scroll led me to a post from @mmdesigns.life announcing her life retreat for incoming college freshman girls. A place where we could learn how to navigate the changes we are about to experience while being a reflection of God’s love and power. Taking a chance and letting the little voice in my head lead the way, I signed up. Little did I know what God had in store for this weekend. Disclaimer: it’s unlikely that this will be the only blog I’ll talk about this weekend in, so just buckle up and bear with me :-)

I ended up having one of the most impactful weekends of my life. The people I met, the things I learned, and the memories I made will always serve as a testament to the good that can be let into your life when you place the Lord at the center of it. I have never felt so welcomed and accepted by a group, especially one of teenage girls, we all know how ruthless we can be at this age. Knowing that this was a Christian retreat, I assumed that everyone was going to be nice, and I’d have a good time. But what I never expected was how fast everyone clicked. Hardly any two states alike, and no previous knowledge of each other existing, I was shocked at how many connections I was able to make with everyone there. After discovering mutual friends with at least half of the girls there, and engaging in some of the most genuine conversations, I was stunned at how close I felt to everyone after just 48 hours. I quickly realized that all people need is... people! I bet I just blew you away, right?? “People need people”, really Maddie? But seriously, (for lack of a better word), having a “common factor” with someone creates an instant connection. I mean what else am I supposed to talk about with someone from Nebraska. She’s probably tired of being asked if there’s a lot of cornfields there. Yeah, it was me who asked… but we were all wondering right?! Anyways, this got me thinking. What if we didn’t need to know the girl from sleepaway camp who goes to school with the person you just met to be able to form an immediate connection and feel comfortable. What if we could just dip below the surface at the beginning? Well, spoiler alert: we can! We all have Jesus in common. Every.single.one.of.us. We were all created in God’s image! Yep. Fearfully and wonderfully made. Even on your worst days. And although everyone we meet may not know God personally, he is still with them - living in their hearts, walking with them every day, and eagerly waiting for them to pursue a relationship. I think once we realize that, or give ourselves that simple reminder, our relationships flourish and our hearts soften.

In a world that seemingly thrives off division, it’s easy to become accustomed to attitudes like “keeping your circle small” and “I don’t need anyone” but remember that everyone in your life serves a purpose. Every interaction is all part of a divine plan. This world is full of magic if you’re looking in the right places! The stranger who told you she liked your outfit on the street walking into your interview gave you the confidence boost you needed to kill it. Being randomly assigned a partner in your middle school science class gave you your best friend. Deciding to stay a weekend with 50+ random girls in a beach house gave me a community of girls I can fall back on. See, you just have to open your eyes and look a bit closer - the magic’s always there. So many of our hearts have turned cold from the pain we’ve experienced in our lives, causing us to just shut everyone out. (I’ve been there too!) But this is so far from the way God intended us to live! We aren’t made to do it all alone! And honestly for me this is hard. I’m wildly independent, sometimes too much for my own good, and I just want to fix everything by myself. But I can promise you, letting people in, feeling that risk of getting hurt or let down again, and doing it anyway is so worth it. Relationships are worth it. Laughing so hard your stomach aches and there’s tears rolling down your face is worth it. Having friends who will give you their honest opinions on your outfit is so worth it. So, if you are in a season of loneliness or isolation, let people back in!

As always, thanks for reading.

& if you want to chat about anything I just said, Taylor Swift, or both??, don’t hesitate to reach out! I appreciate you all!!!! Bye!!!!!!!!!!