Christmas Happenings

I know, I know, I'm ridiculously late posting this. Bad Robby, bad.

Christmas was actually pretty good for me this year. Usually I hate Christmas. H-A-T-E, hate. Everything is so commercialized- the advertising, the sales, the gift exchanges and returns. Everyone talks about 'the reason for the season', and justifies themselves by rading their Bible for 10 minutes Christmas morning, then diving into their material posessions like a greedy pack of starved hynenas.

But I digress.

My Christmas was actually not bad. I got a lot of useful presents this year- clothes and food. For a college student, getting free stuff like that is like hitting the jackpot at Morengo (which the guy next door actually did last semester. Still trying to get "my share" from him…). For the most part, it was an average, relaxing Christmas. It was what happened after Christmas that really shook me up.

My girlfriend of over a year broke up with me.

She told me over the phone on New Year's Day. According to her, "When we started dating, we needed each other. Now, we don't."

Talk about a punch to the stomach. I didn't know what to do. For the first couple of days after we rang in the new year, I was a miss. I missed her, obviously. But there was something constantly nagging at the back of my head: What did I do wrong? Could I have stopped this from happening?

Well, at that point there was nothing I could do. We had split, and that was that. I knew that I had to move on… and hey, I was single! Not that being single was really a high point. After spending almost fourteen months with someone, you tend to get a little attached to them. There was something about her smile, her laugh, her embrace that just… captivated me. Face it, I was lost. I wanted her back, and I would do anything to have another chance with her.

After a few weeks of talking things through and letting the dust settle, she came out to CBU. We went out to dinner and talked things over. We talked about the good parts of our relationship, the not-so-good parts, the parts we wanted back and the parts we wanted to fix. After four hours of laughs, tears and double-doubles, we decided that we wanted our relationship back- sort of. We are now back together, but we have dialed back nearly every aspect of our relationship. Physically, spiritually, emotionally- we are starting over.

And you know what? It feels great. God is a God of new beginnings. I know that he has given me a new beginning with my girlfriend, a new opportunity to care for her and love her. And I'm not going to mess things up again.