"God does not change..."

I finished reading Three Cups of Tea at the beginning of the summer, and before one of the chapters is this quote from Mother Theresa:

"Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything."

That third sentence hit me like a bat. God does not change. How great and comforting is that? The same God that's been with us the past four years, providing us friends and fellowship and everything we need, is still with us now, whether that's in Nashville, Chicago, Memphis, Houston, DC, across the globe, or in a cardboard box. Therefore, let nothing frighten us...and have patience. All things I need to work on.

While we're on the topic of profound things that make me realize the need for reflection, and as part of my deep passion for Disney Pixar, I saw Toy Story 3 today! I found myself in need of a Kleenex by the end because, little did I know, the movie is all about goodbyes and moving on, and my heart was hurting enough today already from Goodbyes Round 2 (yikes). In it, the toys realize that it's okay to say goodbye and let go as you step out into that "something new" that can turn out to be something really great, despite all the goodbye tears and fears. And that those goodbyes don't mean we cease travelling down the road of life together. Beautiful...way to go Disney Pixar, once again.

And speaking of beautiful, that was the buzzword of the past weekend! I sure hope someone else writes a more articulate and humorous post about Maggie & Jonathan's wedding, but here's my little shout-out to the happy couple and the great friends who were present.

I don't really know how to put words to my joy for these sweet friends getting married, but I have felt overwhelmingly encouraged by their love and by God's work in their lives. What an incredible testament to the great love story God has for each of us. I'm so excited to see what's in store for you two in the years to come! And talk about a BEAUTIFUL wedding and wedding party, delicious food, an epic band, hot weather, and cute moments left and right. There were also a bajillion Vandy faces there and I couldn't have been more happy to see yall and everyone else.

It was so weird to be gathering together for the first time as "adults" (I'm pretty sure the majority of conversations consisted of talks about jobs, houses, relationships, and "The Future"). But SO encouraging to realize that while we're all going to grow and go in a vastly different directions, we always have these friendships and this great group dynamic to return to. I also realized the immense importance of face-to-face interactions in relationships and was grateful for all the much-needed heart to hearts, encouragement, and challenges from you all. Wow...what a great reminder of the body of Christ and the provision of friends beyond graduation.

As a last update, I finally heard from Africa about my future, and it's good and bad news. Good news: I was officially accepted! Bad news: there may not be a program in Rwanda. Yikes - talk about my ENTIRE future suddenly flying up in the air! That's the very short of it, but feel free to ask for further details. I have never, ever felt more incredibly direction-less in my life...I don't even feel that push of God telling me which direction I should go in. I literally have no idea at this moment what the next year is going to hold. But despite this abyss of unknowns, I have never felt more reassured that God has a plan for my future that is going to blow me away. It's weird to be on both sides of this strange continuum. Hopefully I will be receiving more information later this week and will finally be able to sit down and start thinking critically about my options. For now, I'm resting in the strange peace I've had since hearing all this and hoping to put off the feeling that I'm falling off a cliff as long as possible :) prayer prayer prayer prayer prayer, right?

Well, heartiest greetings from Glenview. Stop on by anytime! Miss&love yall terribly.