About to leave...

So, officially I leave the country tomorrow. What an amazing mixture of bitter and sweet to serve as a send-off!!! An intended "small get-together" turned into all the gang over for the usual: individual pizza masterpieces accompanied by ringing laughter and the inevitable sing-along surrounding a certain music major. I was warding off irritation at the recurrence of such a monotonous and "been-there-done-that" event, until God stepped in and reminded me how amazing friends are and how wonderful it is when we all have the chance to be together. We shared communion and prayer time together, and it was amazing. It has been the highlight of all my time here at home, and to think that the frustrating monotony that plagued me for all my days back in small home town could have been cured in a moment if I did what all my upbringing and storehouse of "right answers" suggested: turn to God!!! I wish I could take all of them to Spain with me -- but at the same time I am excited to be on my own once again. It is like going into freshman year all over again - I don't have any friends on the trip and my family is far far away. But now I have survived a similar experience and grown from it!!! Now I can go into this trip with the knowledge that I can make it, and that I am not alone. As confused as I may remain about who God is and what Jesus means to my life and how I live it, I set forth with full faith that I am truly never alone. My life on earth will all be one great adventure, and I won't truly return home until my body dies. Leaving the country (again) is just one of the many pages in my chapter of the epic book that is life.

And now that I've gone all reflective and philosophical, I'm going to sign off for today. I still have to get a decent amount of sleep and finish packing.