College has been very interesting...
But good.
Very good.
There have been some high moments and some low moments but overall God has just been really faithful. I really feel that Tech is the right place for me to be (not that I ever thought any different, I just ran into a lot of confirmation this past week)
this weekend was especially good, I think.
The whole end of last week and this weekend was beautifully orchestrated by God and it was wonderful to be in the center of it all.
On Thursday I took this amazing walk through campus. and I didn't actually want to take it, but God has a way of nudging things in the direction He wants them to go :). I was trying to take the bus back to my room (even though it was beautiful outside) because I was kind of far away and I was in a particularly lazy mood. So I am standing there with a ton of other people waiting for the bus to come, ( we had to wait for a while) and when one finally got there so many people quickly pushed past me so that by the time I got to the bus, it was so packed with people that I couldn't even get on it! (they were literally packed to the doors). I was kind of bitter and frustrated and since I had already waited for a while for the first bus I decided that I would just walk back. So I put in my ear phones so I could listen to music while I walked.
And it was weird, but as I walked I just let go of the tension and frustration and really listened to the words of the songs that were praising God. And gradually as I walked on, God opened my eyes and my heart to things on campus and within people that I guess I just missed before. Like how beautiful the world around me is, and how he created it all to praise Him...and it occurred to me that he had placed me amidst all of this beauty in the middle of Atlanta. I was in the middle of the GIANT symphony singing out God's name and I was there to praise God as well. It was the first time since arriving on campus that I actually felt like I was a part of the new community that I live in. It was the first time that I felt like I was home. It was absolutely fantastic and reminded me again just how much God completes me :)
I love being reminded of that.
Also, this weekend I went a trip with the Navigators that was really awesome.
I love camping and being out in the woods so I already knew that it would be fun...but i have to tell you, rafting was AMAZING. I had a blast.
But more than just having fun I met some truly neat and genuine people.
I rode down with Chelsea and two guys we'd never met named David and Nathan. We got so lost so many times (we crossed state borders 10 times over the two days) and it took us almost 2 hours longer to get there than we had originally planned. But we had so much fun, and I think that us being lost bonded us closer together as we had to try and figure out the roads together.
Nathan was so funny and so easy-going, I love that about him. He was easy to talk to and very genuine. AND his girlfriend goes to UGA so I might have found somebody to bum a ride off of to go see Kate :)
As the driver, David had a lot to tackle. But he was our fearless leader and he did very well I thought. He was a bit quieter than Nathan but I enjoyed his company very much. God has truly given him a compassionate heart and I think that God will use David a lot to reach many people in Africa.
We got there eventually, but very late. I didn't really get the chance to meet too many people that night because it was so dark but it was nice to have Rachel, Russell, Mallori, Joshua, and Molly there to hang out with. It was a fun night and the stars were out in full form. It was beautiful...breathtakingly beautiful. It was wonderful to sing to Jesus by starlight :)
hmmm
the next day we went rafting and I was pretty excited about it because I had never done it before. Nathan and Nate were telling me stories on the bus ride up there about times they had been rafting and they were getting me all excited. I ended up being in a raft with Nathan, Jon, Rachel, Samantha, and Claire. I definitely feel closer to all of them after being in a raft with them for 3 hours and having to work together through the rapids :)
I actually managed somehow to not fall out of the raft at all. It's kind of shocking actually. But we got plenty wet and Jeff (our rafting guide) let us swim a little.
Oh Jeff... goofiest man alive
I think that he was the reason this experience is so memorable.
He's been rafting forEVER and really likes to give people a hard time. He called me sunshine and picked on Jon and Nathan a lot :)
the guys were up front (so they led), so whenever they weren't paying attention or not together Jeff would call them girls or boy scouts or some other type of insult. It was funny but both Nathan and Jon were very graceful about it and played along. One time I got to sit up front and I will tell you that leading is not as easy as I thought it would be so props to Nathan and Jon.
Every now and then Jeff would have us stick our paddles in the air and yell YEHAW! as loud as we could. It was sort of like our battle cry, I loved it :)
But the best part about being in Jeff's raft, though, was the fact that he had this giant water gun that he would shoot other rafts with. Nobody could really compete with us :)...
Some tried, though, and every time time someone would get us wet Jeff would say "In my raft, we're family, and NOBODY messes with my family" and then he would shoot them back.
But I really did feel like we were family even though I didn't know Jon, Samantha, or Claire very well. They were very nice and wanted to get to know me. Jon and I swapped Peru stories (he had gone to Peru a while ago). and Claire and I got to sit up front together and lean over the raft (like boat ornaments) and we chanted together pretending to be "one with the water". and I was sitting next to Samantha so I was thrown into her lap more than once during the course of the trip.
It was so much fun and I would not be sorry to see "Jumpin' Jeff" again :)
and last, but not least, as my weekend adventure closes...I came home Today (Sunday) and went to church.
It was...weird
I didn't realize how weird it would be. But it was good for me. It helped me to see how much I had already let go of the old chapter of my life and embraced the newest one. Seeing everybody was so nice and it felt good to know how much I am missed, but for the first time I realized that I have really moved on. I felt almost...out of place sort of. And I noticed that I kept referring to Atlanta as home. I really felt like a visitor.
I think I am finally transitioning (and a lot faster than I thought I would too). It's a cool sort of feeling. Just a lot to think about and talk to God about. But mostly I have just reached a place of tranquility...at least of the subject of transitioning to college. It's nice :)
Oh, Lord
The way You move astounds me
the way You orchestrate the world awes me
You are the master conductor
and I am watching your baton...
waiting for your signal
as I play my life song, strong and sure.
Thank you for caring enough about my heart
to minister to me...to provide emotionally for me
I thank you that YOU are the one who arms me with strength
and make my way perfect
Thank you for reaching down from on high and taking
hold of me :)
thank you for delighting in me
thank you for rescuing me
te amo con todo mi ser
brillare para ti
