Not taking the easy way out

Hello friends. I am going through a very very tough time in my personal life right now. This is why I have not been able to produce a blog. My friendship, and my ability to return friendship, all in all let me just say the longevity of my friendship, is being challenged to the max.

So how can relate this to describing and adding to what friendship is all about? Prayer is important. And we know that Jesus taught that persevering in prayer is important. Jesus gave us hope that if our prayers do not get answered right away, if we continue to ask, God may decide to grant us our request at some later date. (Luke 18:1-8)

Then again, what if you have a friend, and you're watching the whole world seem to turn against this person? You love this person, and you want to step in and help. But you are frightened. Stepping in means making a deeper commitment than you have ever made in your whole life. This, my friends, is what has now occurred in my life, and it's very very hard.

All this time as a true friend I have despised people who didn't have the courage to separate from the crowd in order to do what is right. For the first time, I am seeing how terribly difficult it can be.

In my previous blog, In the Position of Friend, I wrote a number of blogs about abstinence. I want to share a personal experience I had where choosing abstinence was a challenge. I was living in an apartment building where each floor had two apartments across from one another. For many months, the tenant of the apartment across from me was rarely there. Then, after she moved out, a young gentleman moved into the apartment. After a few nights, I suddenly became very sexually aroused. I had not met him, but for some reason that I didn't even understand, I was strongly aroused. Tempted. Very very tempted. This is how I finally got control of it: I told myself "Raya, you are being tempted to do something that is against everything you stand for. If you truly believe in what you say you believe, then you cannot consider sex with this man" When I told myself this, I was able to ignore all that my body was saying and get control of it.

This I shared now, because once again now, I am faced with a situation (though much different in a lot of ways) where I have to conduct myself according to what I believe in, and not what comes naturally.

A friend, and actually a relative needs my help very badly, and in order to be of help more is involved than just good advice or saying I love you. I have to produce a legal document, and I'm very scared.

So since I introduced today's blog by talking about prayer, at this point I want to ask for your prayers. Today I felt totally overwhelmed by the task before me. But it's something I want to do, and am required to do.

musical selection: Hair Broadway Musical: Easy to Be Hard