Just wanted to say hello =)

I feel like its been a while. I also wanted to say how exciting I'm getting for my 1 year anniversary of my England Adventures [July 5]. I am very much looking forward to reading journals and blog posts from a year ago. You can look forward to some fun tid-bits and a few "one year ago today" posts [sorry in advance if they get annoying... I'll try to do only the special ones]. But more than just a wish to relive the magic of England, I'm really looking forward to celebrating God's goodness and approaching everyday with renewed gratefulness. It is honestly miraculous what God has done in that 1 little year. And it is miraculous that I'm pursuing what I am right now. But daunting at the same time and, to be honest, I've had a bit of hard time staying as grateful as I should be. I've been looking at these amazing opportunities and while I should be focused on how amazing they are, I've been too preoccupied with how much work they'll take. I mean, here I am, working away on scholarship and school applications--begging for more work? Not to mention the idea of living so far away from home for 4-6 years! Fear and weariness have been really messing with me lately. But, I am so excited to look back and remind myself that God deciding to blow up a vision and fulfill someone's wildest dreams is 1. POSSIBLE--He did it last year and 2. a privilege!! Where I'm at is a privilege and if it costs me more blood, sweat, and tears, so be it. He has big dreams and I'm so lucky to be involved in them--even when I can't see what they entail. So here is God "doing it again" and me celebrating even the hard things--like climbing the arc de triomphe and killing spiders =)

Just finishing up my last night of homework for UW...

C'est tres bizarre!!!

After my Philosophy final tomorrow, I am celebrating with a ( last )= Monday Date with Julia, a book from Magus, and a movie with Beks (who is finally home!! =)

I am also meeting with my advisor for the scholarship process this summer. To be honest, I've had a bit of a hard time preparing myself for a summer of chasing hard after dreams. I'll probably be working nearly as hard on academics from now until January as I prepare multiple scholarship applications, study and take the GRE's, and apply to 9+ universities. Yikes! After some setbacks (both academic and emotional), I've been struggling to have faith in such impossible dreams. I was--not disillusioned--but, pretty deflated. Honestly, I felt a bit like this:

"I can't even fly out of the window!"

Ok... maybe not that bad, but it's been hard to believe in something so daunting. I've felt so small, so inadequate to accomplish the big things--or even all the little steps to get to the big things.
Well, today Pastor Norm shared something that blew my mind and revitalized my soul. He said:

"The more we discover about favor, the bigger God gets, the smaller we become. That's good news! We can be as small as we are. We don't have to psych or puff ourselves up. We get to walk in favor which means Christ overrides the rules of the natural and gives us special advantages and a special dispensation of grace."

WOW! I. so. needed. that. I am small, but He knows that. He's going to use my itty-bitty person and He can do miraculous and marvelous through me. Selah.

Alright... well with that encouraging thought, I'm heading to dreamland and preparing for the end of one season and the beginning of "the unknown new."