If you are chilly, here take my sweater

It's been a while, I know...I'm sorry.

2 weeks ago, my wonderful friend Laura married the man of her dreams. Laura's wedding was gorgeous, and I was reminded again of how beautiful marriage can be. There have been SO many weddings and engagements this summer. It has lead to many conversations about marriage and love with some of my friends. All I can say is I know it will be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to being on mission with whatever man God has planned for me. 

Speaking of engagements, one of my favorite people, Caroline, got engaged a few weeks ago. This is one wedding that I am BEYOND excited for. Caroline lives in Chicago and goes to college in Michigan. I flew out to meet her-then-boyfriend, Jack and to hang out with Caroline. Let me tell you, I was so nervous about meeting him. What if I didn't like him? What if there was just something weird about him? What if he didn't like me? He and I ended up having a little witty banter argument like Caro and I did all the time. All I remember is he got the better of me in the "argument" and that's when I knew he was the right guy for her. Now they're getting married in June. Yay. :)

I also got to spend 4 days in Eburg with these ladies and Shannon. It was such a great time, and God repaired a very strained friendship with one of them. Plus, I got to go home and see all my friends from school!!

Oh yeah, and about a week ago, I accepted a job offer. No big deal. My new hometown has a Mars Hill Church and a guide dog group, so I'm set.

Now, I just get to make sure I see everyone before I leave.

All of these are evidences of God's amazing grace and love. I'm so humbled.

While angels in His presence sang, until the courts of heaven rang

We've had a couple days of summer this week, and it's been really nice. The best part of this week has been re-connecting with so many people. I got to have a wonderful, Jesus-filled lunch with Miss Cortney, picnic'd with my favorite Brittney, spontaneously went downtown with Shannon (I love that I don't see her very often, but whenever I do, it's like we haven't ever been apart), visited the farmer's market with Heather, and yesterday I went downtown again with Jill and Shannon (oh yeah, Jill is back from India for 2 weeks. This is awesome).

I wasn't planning on blogging today, but I've been thinking. :) It all started this morning when I realized I don't really have anything to do, so I can go to a park and hang out with Jesus, my journal, and maybe the book we never finished reading. I realized I've never really sat down and gotten back into "quiet time" since I've been back. I also neglected finding a community of Christians to do life with because I didn't want to make friends and then move for a job. This excuse completely disappeared when Heather told me to come to their community group. Thus, I am going. 

Then, a friend posted this link on Facebook. The thinking continued. I've heard the modest talks a million times. I know in my head that wearing certain things is just not okay. But I rarely actually think about why. Why is it that even Christian ladies feel the need to show off their bodies? Why I wear certain things? I've always battled with the idea of what it means to find complete identity in Jesus. So maybe, indeed, we do what we know we shouldn't because we don't understand that Jesus is everything. I don't need to be attractive to guys...Jesus can fill that void. Now I just need to figure out how to put that thought into practice.

Simon Says

raise your hand if you're leaving for school in 7 days! *hand shoots up* I had my last guide dog meeting today which was kind of sad. I mean, I know I'll be back for breaks but like Tracey said, life will never be the same again. So I keep getting more and more excited..especially as this is a real week of "lasts". Like tonight is the last Sunday night I'll be living in this house, sleeping in this bed.

But the evidence of God's grace I want to post about today is just my awesome friends. I have people in my life whom I know I can turn to about anything. I had a situation that really just sucks come up, and my tendency is to keep it to myself and hide the imperfections in my life. But I decided to reach out and tell Caroline about it, and I know that she cares. Jill is coming back soon (which means she'll be able to talk again and to come visit me at school!!!) and I've missed her lots. I'm taking a trip over to Eburg on Weds for a job interview, and Shannon and one of her friends will be coming along. And stuff like I have all these situations that come up that remind me of Explorers or Academy, and I can just text or message Jake and he always "gets" it. Not to mention that we've had some pretty great talks in general, too. Hannah is the nuttiest girl I know, but I absolutely adore the way she lives for Jesus in a down-to-earth way. This morning at church I was kind of feeling alone even though I was surrounded by people, and Emily J saw me, smiled, and waved, and a little while later Jill D poked me as I passed her in the communion line. I'm hanging out with Cortney for the first time in a LONG time, tomorrow and I can't wait to see her beautiful little face. She has this intensity and passion about life and living it well that I just adore. God has blessed me with some radically amazing people.

Mayhem in Seattle

So yesterday, Shannon and I went downtown for the day. We walked around Pike Place and stopped by the original Starbucks and shopped in the lovely shopping district for a while. Then we went to the Mariner's game aaaaand we lost of course. :) But we ended up missing our bus and being stuck downtown until 10:45pm. Shannon's family got really upset that she was in Seattle so late, but my parents were pretty chill about the whole thing. I mean, I'm a pretty observant and safe kid and our God is a protector. So we got home fine, but now we have a great story about the night we got stuck in Seattle. It was just another example of how I can stay extremely relaxed and calm even in crazy situations...always fun stuff.

This afternoon I had a lovely talk with one lady whom I love so very much. Every time I talk with her, I always go away wishing I could just be in the same room with her forever. Somehow, we have that mix between just having a great time, making fun of life, telling fantastic stories, spilling our guts, and sharing how Jesus is working in our hearts, minds, and lives. There are a very few people in this world I can say that about, and Caroline is one of them. <3

Now I'm going to continue my journey through Exodus. I've picked up something from my friend Jessie who is a newer Christian. When she reads the Old Testament, she sees a story of God's faithfulness in the lives of his people. I'm used to just reading the stories and picking out the lesson like any good Sunday School kid would do. Thanks to Jessie, I'm going to see how God's amazing plan and overarching power follows Moses and the Israelites as they leave Egypt.