Endings and Beginnings

I know I haven't posted in a while.  Truthfully, other things have been keeping me from Scripture reading and blogging.  Facebook, for one.  I never should have gone back on it after Lent.  Maybe I should just get rid of the account altogether!  That, and it's finals week, and I have a paper to finish and two more to write and a final exam to study for and a portfolio to assemble.  And I haven't even begun packing up my dorm room yet.  And I have one week left on campus as a sophomore.

This semester has flown by.  Everyone's saying it, but I really wasn't expecting this year to go by so very quickly!  It has been a delight, and I have learned and grown and matured so much (at least I think so).  And I have strengthened old friendships and made new ones and God has put people in my life that have been the most incredible blessings.

I have failed, I have triumphed, I have been forgiven, I have forgiven others (and myself).  God's grace has become more real to me in this last year than ever before.  He has revealed himself to me in new ways.  I am growing in my faith and learning more about him all the time.  Nope, I'm not doing everything nearly right, but I'm a work in progress.

My mom has expressed to me that the thought of me not coming home for this summer is hard for her to fully accept.  I'll be home with my parents for less than three weeks before beginning my life as a married woman.  I have to admit, it does feel a little weird--but I'm ready.  I've been ready.  I firmly believe that God prepares us our whole lives for each transition that we experience; he's been preparing me for this, too.  I know I still have a lot of learning to do, but I'm ready to jump into my new role as wife and homemaker, by the grace of and with the help of my heavenly Father!

I've made good friends in a few of my classes this semester.  I'll miss seeing them every week.  But each semester so far I've made new, closer friends, and I know that will continue to happen.  I wonder who God will bless me with next year!

Sometimes it's bittersweet, all the goodbye's, and knowing that things will not be the same when we come back.  But it's exciting, too, because I can hardly wait to see what God has in store.  I know it will be good.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  -Jeremiah 29:11