3 weeks from today

So, today is the three weeks day. Exactly 3 weeks from today I shall be walking down a path with about 200 other seniors from Huntington University to walk across a stage when they call my name and receive my diploma. That's right, I'll be graduating (duh) but seriously how crazy is this?! Four years of sweat and tears and work and papers and tests... and all I get is a sheet of paper (okay not really but it kinda seems that way). It's a lot more than that... I've got experience and knowledge and understanding, I've grown in maturity and spirituality and in ways I can't possibly describe on here.

It's interesting to me how much can change in such a short time. I generally love and embrace change, I think it's fascinating, you cannot grow without change. There is, of course, a lot of change that isn't great. There is indeed change that seems impossible to bring about good. However, even the worst situations of change can be brought around and used for good. My first semester didn't really seem to bring about too much change, there was actually a lot of change (of course) but I seemed to fit right along with it all and I loved it. The second semester was a different story, it turned out that I didn't always handle change very well, but that was just the beginning and since then I have grown through more changes than I could possibly list. It's amazing how God teaches you so much through the toughest trials.

Anyway... post-college life for me will be a new change yet again! First for the summer I'll be working at Grace Community Church as an intern with the 0-3 children's ministry! That should be great! I'm also hoping to get a second job to work part time for a couple nights a week or something like that, because come this fall I am planning to move out to Portland, OR (or somewhere close to there) for grad school at George Fox Evangelical Seminary, getting my masters in Spiritual Formation. I am really excited about this! Pretty nervous too, but more so excited to see how God brings everything together and how I can continue to follow His will for me. I have hopes of where this would lead after about 3 years (not quite but close enough) but I really couldn't even begin to guess where God will lead me or what he would have me to do. All I can do is pray and be patient for when that time comes! If I've learned anything in these four years, I've learned that I can persevere through ANYTHING with the strength of Christ as my foothold.

Amen.

less than 6 weeks...

Until the day of my college graduation. The life I have known for about 22 years now... everything will change- again.

Funny thing is, change is not bad, I love it when things change and grow, because usually change turns out better in the end. Granted I've not always enjoyed the process, change is not fun to endure. Even more, this change is big, bigger than any other change I've experienced thus far in my short life. All that which was safe and secure will not be the same, and most of it will be no longer there. I will soon travel yet again to a new place, but in a different light than my last traveling experience. When I went to Northern Ireland, I had a small idea of what to expect, I knew that there would be people there to take care of me if I needed (which I did... haha)... to help me get my barrings and to learn the lay of the land. It was a brilliant experience, and I did learn to do many things for myself. When I go out to Oregon, however, it will be completely different. As far as I know, there will not be anyone out there to help me find the lay of the land. No one to help me figure something out if I get confused or lost. This is not necessarily bad, of course; for I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me... but these unknowns leave me with some fears, some worries.

However, despite all these things- I am an not afraid, or worried, but rather I am excited to see where God takes me, this is indeed the "new adventure" that the woman on my plane ride home must have been talking about. :)