Lessons from the Girls

About three years ago, my friend Joel told me that one of his favorite shows was “Gilmore Girls.” Up until that point, I’d paid little attention the show that premiered on the WB in 2000 (the same year I moved to Colorado). A couple times I’d lit on it while channel-surfing, but dizzied by the breakneck dialogue, I never got into it. When I asked Joel why he liked the show, he said, “I find the family dynamics really fascinating.”

I got hooked last summer when I watched a “Gilmore Girls” marathon. The show centers around the close relationship of mother and daughter Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. Sixteen years apart, the free-spirited pair lives in the quirky small town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Sharing an affinity for coffee and junk food, the girls pay a daily visit to Luke’s Diner where they hold unrealistically fast and quippy conversations loaded with pop culture references. Adding to the "fascinating" family dynamics are Lorelai’s socialite parents who live in Hartford. Parents and daughter parted ways when Lorelai gave birth to Rory at age 16 and have had little to do with each other since.

The series opens with Rory being accepted to Chilton, a high-profile preparatory school. With dreams of attending Harvard, Rory is delighted by the opportunity. But Lorelai, who works as manager of a local inn, doesn’t have enough cash for the first payment. Reluctantly she goes to her parents for help. They agree on one condition: Lorelai and Rory must join them for dinner every Friday night. Thus begin rich family lessons in understanding, acceptance and love.

I’m currently watching the first season on DVD. While the show features an occasional indiscretion on the part of Lorelai, season one has an overall wholesome tone. Lorelai is unrelentingly supportive of her daughter. Rory is unfailingly kind and fair, even to classmates who slander and belittle her. Both women put effort into understanding Lorelai’s overbearing mother and distant father. Boiled down, “Gilmore Girls” is about compassion and understanding.

The timing of my interaction with the Gilmores seems providential. This week I have a new roommate moving in. She is 18 and has been living on her own since the fall, supporting herself by working at a fast-food restaurant. As I help her find a new job, buy a car and make all the necessary transitions to move in, I find myself encouraged by my recent television fare. “Gilmore Girls” has been teaching me how to nurture—a skill that is helping me bond with my soon-to-be roomie.

As I have prayed about this adjustment and the new responsibility it will bring, the Lord has been faithful to encourage and prepare me—even through something as unexpected as a TV show (a WB TV show, no less!). I don’t envision Sveta and I sitting in a diner over burgers and cutesy conversation, but I do have hope that we will be friends. And through Christ, more than that.