love brought me home.

i just finished my last class of undergrad today. it was great. im not anxious or stressed, im looking forward to walking slowly with my God, wherever he is leading. and that is something nice in my life.


today is thursday which is sabbath time. definitely my favorite day of the week. met two friends in charlotte after eating a monstrous cookie sandwich at the mall. both conversations were really encouraging and affirmed cool changes that ive been able to see in my life. one of my friends said i should write a book because i make weird analogies but am also articulate. maybe one day. wouldnt that be funny?


ive jammed out to a lot of music today and laughed with a lot of great people in my life. drew holcomb has a song and the chorus keeps singing, "love will bring you home". and it did. love brought me home. i am at home in myself and its a peace and stability that i dont think ive had up until this point. maybe in spurts but not consistently. so thankful for it. love brought me home.


im graduating in like... a week (and some change) its weird but exciting. im hopeful about it. not a desperate escaping sort of hope, but a hope where i am looking forward to whatever is next, one foot in front of the other. helen found out that she gets to stay at Gardner Webb so lydia and julia threw her an awesome party. we had a bonfire at the top of the nanny building and laughed all night. smores and soooooo much laughing. i looked around at everyone and loved the moment. again, im so thankful for friendship. there were friends who were apart of the original D3, some from the later D2, and some freshmen in there too. and i love them all and the roles theyve played in my life. some have seen me crazy, some have seen me sad, some have seen me excited, but ultimately they know me and accept me and that is something really cool. i gladly walked away smelling like a campfire, knowing i would love that memory for a long time. it made me happy for everyone there too because i knew that it would become what the bible study group was for me. a place to love and laugh and work out life. everyone should have that. 


i realized the other day that its really important to have an older sister. im the oldest so i never had one growing up, but i am thankful for the women in my life who filled in that role well. whether it was in high school or here at gwu, i can finally say that i had (and have) good older sisters. women in my life who looked out for me, who told me what not to wear, and who gave good advice too. women who gave me a home away from home. who let me sort things out. and im thankful too because i think i now have younger sisters, and i like that. cause really everyone needs one. you need to know that someone is looking out for you, but that theyre not your mom. moms are great too, and thank God they exist, but sisters are really important.


so many random thoughts. all this to say, love well where you are. always. i didnt and dont always love well, but im trying to work it out. my favorite question to ask (besides "tell me about your life", which is a statement, not a question, but whatevs) is, "if you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?". in this season of life, my answer is still the same. i would want everyone to know how loved they are. it is mind blowing what you can accomplish when you know you are loved. my soccer coach at home used to say that you will run through brick walls for the people you love. and its true. youll lift cars off of people, youll stand up to bullies, youll do just about anything. you might even die of the cross, if youre the loving Lord that i live by. when you truly understand how desperately loved you are, by God and by others, nothing can stop you. and equally, in some ways, nothing matters. you can be dirt poor, but if you know youve got love, youre in the clear. when i get to heaven one day and i have to account for my life, i want to be able to look Jesus in the eye and say that i loved well. faulty in seasons for sure. messy and arrogantly too. but i want to say that i tried. love really will bring you home.