Counseling last night

I could really have used some help from a friend of mine who is seeking out a career in counseling in the sunny state of Texas. A friend/colleague of mine from a bookstore job I did over the Christmas season has been texting me over the last few days trying to get me to talk to her. I was rather hesitant in talking with her, as I have no desire to be her confidant, counselor, etc. Girls with problems have a way of latching on the person who is trying to help them, and that can cause even more issues. Thus I was attempting to avoid conversations with her.

Well last night it seemed like it came to a point where I needed to actually talk to her and set some boundaries so that she would not keep texting me trying to get me to talk or meet her somewhere. So at the end of my Halo extravaganza I asked my best friend Stephen to pray for me as I was going to call her back and deal with whatever needed to be dealt with.

The conversation turned out to be longer than I wanted, but I was thinking she just wanted to talk to me because of some attraction she had with me, not what I found. This girl is very nice, but has some really problems that she needs to deal with. She is the type of person that feels like she carries the weight of the world upon her shoulders, but has no support from anyone including family. She has never been to college, and has a house to support all by herself. She is attending a church that is dying and is not providing for her spiritual needs.

I must admit because of the way I had to prepare myself for this conversation I was not sugarcoating anything. I told her flat out that in order for her to begin to heal, she needs to be spending ample time each day in the Bible and in prayer, as she is stressing and worrying about everything. The second big thing I told her she needed to do, was to find a church that would start meeting some of her needs. Specifically, she needs an older woman of the faith to be mentoring and caring for her.

In the end I got my point across, while still trying to be gentle in my approach. There is so much more that I don't have time to write about concerning how to talk to someone who is in need, that can wait. What I did do was make it clear that as much as I like to help and talk to people, in her case it is not appropriate for me to counsel her on a regular basis. (aka more than once)

It went well, I hope she gets the help she needs, I recommended a professional counselor. Today I called my accountability partner and best friend so that he knew what happened, also because he was praying for me. This relationship I have with him has been instrumental in my current spiritual growth.

Oh well, time to eat, the house smells so good!