Time To Breathe

It's been a long time. Things have been pretty hectic around here. But I'm still managing to keep up somehow. There's so much going on right now it's really hard to decide what to focus on. I'm sure everyone is busy.

After some resistance, I decided to join Sigma Tau Delta. It's an English society at school. This should open up more opportunities for me as far as scholarships and publications. Not to mention it looks pretty good on a resume. I'm still not sure what the future holds. But are we ever, really? It seems like every time I make a plan, it never goes the way I had envisioned. But I guess that's what I've been thinking about lately.

Do you ever hear a song or catch a whiff of a scent that catapults you back to some memory? I mean, it doesn't have to be a song or a smell, maybe it's something someone says and just makes you think of a different time of your life. I've been doing that a lot lately. Like when I got out some of our winter clothes, I found a leather jacket that I absolutely love and the strong scent of leather hit my nose. Immediately I was thrown into the memory of a trip I took at Greenville to Chicago. And it was awesome to just sit there and reflect on what I had learned on that trip. My eyes were opened up again, just like they were when I actually experienced it. Another thing I've experienced is music. Different songs that I listened to a lot at different times in my life have really been a benchmark for some of my memories. And those have been coming up again too. And I listen to them, and I remember what it was like during different times of my life. My point is, I think God is putting these things in front of me so that I will reflect on my memories. Some of these memories are from when I was broken, some are from when I was growing, and some are from when I was just in awe of God. I think He's telling me to look back at how far He's taken me, and that I can't stop now.

I feel like I'm in a rut. Maybe these memories are supposed to be teaching me that I have made so much progress in that last few years that it would be foolish to slide back. I also feel like God's telling me there's so much more learning to go, so many more memories to make. I love being caught up in these moments when I reflect on something beautiful and lifechanging that's happened in my relationship with God.

Lord, I thank You so much for the ways that You reach out to us. As each and every person goes through their daily routine, I pray that you stop them the same way you've stopped me...give them a memory to show them what You've done. Put them back in a time when Your love was so evident that they were completely encompassed by it. Thank You for this Father, for sharing in our lives and giving us points to reflect on and stimuli around us to make us remember Your continual Presence...Amen."