It’s so strange to think of where I was at
this point last summer–having just graduated, with a whole summer
ahead of me, and so excited for starting college in the fall. Not to
say that I’ve become old and cynical (far from it, I should hope) but I
know a lot has happened in this past school year that I never could
have even imagined a year ago. Most of it has been good: I have met
some of the most amazing people I will ever know (and Lord-willin I’ll
know them for a long time to come); I’ve had some great class room
experiences as well as some incredible times outside of the classroom;
I’ve joined a sorority; traveled the extent of Michigan (or at
least as far as Traverse City); stayed up late into the night talking
with my best girlfriends and with some guy
friends too; and I’ve learned some pretty important life lessons. One
of those being that despite what may be going on around me, God is a
constant and it’s always best when I acknowledge that fact and order my
life according to His principles rather than ones I’ve come up with in
a moment of humanism. There may have been times when I’ve lost sight of
this worldview but in the end I think God has used various
circumstances and various people to draw me closer to Him. Above all,
even when we do not see the outcome or when everything else seems
uncertain, Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what
we do not see.

     I expect that this summer as well as the
coming fall will be full of new places, people and experiences, but it
is more likely that it will be a procession of the old merely re-cast
by the mindset that continues to develop the older I get. Essentially,
it has not changed much since the age of five, but it definitely has
grown. “Jesus loves you” is still just as simple but in addition is a
deeper understanding of God’s sovereign mercy in the incarnation of His
son as well as the means of grace by which He imparts that love to us.
I could probably write a lot more on this topic, but I doubt anyone has
really read this far anyhow. So I’ll stop now . . . but continue my
musings in a non-public fashion . . .

    Hope y’all are doing well and enjoying the summer time. Smell the flowers.