Clouds in Malibu don't have to mean an ominous final week.

heaven

Ever wonder what heaven will be like? I do... Hopefully a combination of these:

almost done

Well, I just turned in my final assignment of my semester. On one hand I feel like if I learn nothing else from my time at Pepperdine, I'll be satisfied with my ability to perfectly parallel park on a hill just from living in Towers for a year. On the other hand I'm crying (metaphorically) out of excitement about the new knowledge I have and the fact that I now know what gets me excited (sociology) and the fact that I get to take more classes about it next year. How cool is college?

April has been so good. Having Hannah around has been so so good and my heart feels so much more whole! Another LAX reunion with a friend I haven't seen since September is happening tonight and I couldn't be more excited.

As our class slowly pieces back together, everything feels so much more whole--but just in time for the seniors to graduate and a lot of the freshman to go overseas. What even is Pepperdine? It's such a dilemma. There have been so many "senior recognition" events in the past couple of weeks and it doesn't even get repetitive or annoying, just more and more emotional (but slash a little exciting). At UM on Tuesday night one of the seniors talked about how the big elephant in the room was that we're probably mostly not going to see each other ever again...? BUT, for those of us who are Christians, that simply is not true. First of all, duh, but second of all, whoa. That really stuck with me. Tuesday night worship with the UM community all day long forever in heaven? Yes please. Also, last night at Collide Thomas talked about how even though we're so sad to see them go, the world needs them, real bad. Such a good group :).

Everything is wrapping up around campus. SGA is done. We had our little SGA banquet and honored the E-board and celebrated a successful year. I'm so so glad/grateful to have had the chance to be a part of such a fun/productive/interesting group. I never ever ever ever would have thought that I would get to be a class president? In college? At Pepperdine? Awesome. I knew it was going to be a growing experience, and now that it's over, there's nothing I love more than looking back and seeing exactly how it was a growing experience. I know so much more about how I handle stress, work with people (!!!), make decisions, attempt to be poised and graceful, form and express my opinion, and rejoice in both victories and failures. At this point I still have my hands in the air like I just don't care in regards to what I'm "doing" next year, like besides classes. Last night one of the seniors at Collide pointed out that we should rejoice in failures and disappointments because it's during those times that we feel most aware and can most clearly see that God's plan is different (bigger/better) than our own. That's pretty cool. Can't wait to see that plan revealed, though, obviously. Another life lesson of 09-10 = patience. Cool.

Anyway, I've already started to attempt to pack up my room as a form of procrastination...sad. However I am very excited about living in a real apartment (on campus) next year with people that I like a lot and with a kitchen... perfect opportunity to pretend like we're grown ups but not actually have to be at all. Oh also, I'm beginning the new chapter of being in my twenties...so that's cool.

Life... what a thing.

We will have love,

We will have pains

There will be days and days and days that feel the same.

We will have fear,

We will have joy

There may be little girls and little boys

We will have friends

We will have peace

There will be nights of lights and music til you sleep

We will be strong

But we will still break

We'll live through so much more than we could take

Amen, amen

With the dawn we all begin again

Amen, amen

What is done and yet to come, amen

Special thanks to Dave Barnes's new album for being the perfect soundtrack to my week.

ch 1

First of all it's a beautiful day.

This past Thursday Hannah and Amy, two of my dearest friends from freshman year, and two of the best people I've ever known, flew back into LAX after spending this whole school year in London with Pepperdine. We spent a lot of the three days we had together reflecting about how we've changed as individuals over the past two years of college and especially since this time last year, when we all happened to be having either a super big high or low. It's pretty cool how God gives us friends who just "get" us. I've made awesome friends this year while most of the people I hung out with last year have been overseas, but if we're being honest, I'm pretty sure zero of them are introverts. Hannah, Amy, and I totally get that about each other... totes a breath of fresh air.

Especially in the past six months, I have figured out so many things about myself and the way I understand and react to people, things, relationships, emotions, experiences, growth, temptation, discouragement, defeat, and a million other things that I try to jot down in this little notebook I carry around whenever I think of them. Several of my friends kept blogs this year, and whether it was to help them remember their day to day activities or served as an outlet for reflection. I found myself reading them every day. Here is my contribution, now that I am so much more aware of what I have to contribute.

On the list of latest obsessions: recognition of the chapters of life. Accepting that they exist and begin and end and some are more interesting than others but the the story would not be complete if it were missing any one of them. This chapter of being class president, waiting for people to return from overseas, discovering my interest in sociology, reveling in my most recent self-realizations and basking in the accomplishment of a particular set of hurdles: done. check. In a couple weeks I'll be heading to Memphis and starting my youth ministry internship- expecting it to be a fast-paced, hilarious at times, scary, exciting, eternally significant, fun, different chapter.

"Humans are alive for the purpose of journey, a kind of three-act structure. They are born and spend several years discovering themselves and the world, then plod through a long middle in which they are compelled to search for a mate and also create stability out of natural stability, and then they find themselves at an end that seems to be designed for reflection." A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller

Today I'm thankful for prayer, sleep, sunshine, living life one sentence of the story at a time