Last Summer Thoughts

     8/16/2022

    Where does the time go? How does it slip right out of our hands? Tomorrow is the first official day of classes at UA. A new semester begins. New opportunities are here. But before I dive into the new, I find myself here, reflecting on the summer. I didn't come here to write as often as I thought I would. The summer became busier than I expected, though I still had slow moments of nothingness and boredom. There were sweet moments with my friends and family. There were unexpected adventures as I missed my boyfriend. The slow moments were mostly at the writing center, where you could hear every footstep and every whisper during the slow summer. 

    As I think of what the highlights of my summer were, it becomes hard for me to narrow it down to a few, because there were many. Even the quiet moments of boredom were some of the highlights, because it allowed me to slow down and plan for the coming semester. I would say that the highlights of my summer are precious moments with people that are close to me, quiet moments for reflection, and new beginnings and opportunities. 

    My friend, Jennifer, and I went to Chattanooga at the end of the summer of 2021. This year, we were wanting to do a similar weekend trip to another city, but my new budget did not like the idea. So, we decided to do a weekend sleepover, or stay-cation, which became one of my favorite things I did over the summer. We had such wonderful conversations about Jesus, we laughed a lot, had many homemade foods, not to mention we homemade those things, and we praised the Lord together with music. It truly was such a precious and needed time together. The weekend is one that I will cherish in my heart forever, along with this friendship. 








    These quiet moments of reflection were not always easy. One of these was my prayer day by the lake, which you can read about in this summer series. It took sacrifice and focus. It's easy to get distracted from prayer. My Josiah went on many exciting trips out of the state, some of which were out of the country, which was a part of the reason for starting this blog series. I missed him a lot during these trips. It wasn't easy, but the reflection made me realize in the end that it can be good to miss someone so you can learn to love them more. So, you can enjoy their presence more. 

    During one of the most boring and quiet days of summer, I found out that someone was going to be moving into one of the empty rooms in the house that I live in. My new friend and roommate, Olivia, moved in a day later, and we spent the next week getting to know each other and going on adventures, like driving a Uhaul truck for the first time! Yes, I was in the driver's seat! I was a bit nervous, but I had a sweet friend to guide me, and we made it back without a scratch! Olivia has been very kind and she's been fun to be around too. The Lord really did take me by surprise with this new adventure. 






    These are only a few of the sweet moments and fun adventures that I experienced in the past few months. I'm amazed at the way God brings together for a purpose, all while reminding me of his great love for me. 

    How would you describe your summer? Are you diving into something new/ How do you feel about it? 

~Kthnxbai! See ya in the next blog series. ( :

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