Tear-Stained Thankfulness
They say college will go by fast...
Boy, do I believe them?!
I look back at the beginning of it all and it seems like yesterday and lifetimes ago can somehow align. It is crazy what four years can do to a person, what memories and transformation it can hold, and who it will bring in and out of your life. I came into this adventure wanting to pour all I had into this short season of life, but now I have to figure out what to do with all the parts of me that I have to leave behind.
Name an emotion on the spectrum and I can almost guarantee that I am experiencing it or have experienced it over the past few weeks.
Trying to sort through all of my emotions from all the transitions and adjustments of life currently, I expressed my frustrations to the Lord about my inability to make sense of it all. He responded in sweet, tenderness and spoke to the depths of my heart, "Stop trying to process it all and just sit at my feet." Just be with Him--focused on Him.
So, here I am. Trying to get myself to sit at the feet of Jesus. And the only adequate response seems to be thankfulness.
What makes this transition such emotional turmoil is the fact that I truly have so much to be thankful for! Here is part of my tearstained thankfulness...
Mom and Dad, thank you for letting me embark on this journey! Thank you for raising me up in the name of Jesus and for working your butts off to support me through this adventure in every way possible. Also, thank you for just being downright incredible parents and friends!
To my loving grandparents, thank you for who you are and how you love me! Thank you for believing in me and investing in me immensely! I am so grateful for the years I could spend so close to you! I would not have known about Jessup if it weren't for you!
To the rest of my Northern family, thank you for the home cooked meals, the sweet hugs, the invitations to celebrations, and the love you share so willingly!
The rest of my big family (immediate and extended), thank you for loving me from a distance and for letting me leave! Thank you for sharing your space with me when I come back and for keeping home, "home"! For those who I don't get to see often, thank you for always believing in me and supporting me with lots of love!
To the lovely ladies of PUE way back during my freshman year, thank you for being the ones who made Jessup my home! Thank you for all the fun times we had as we did everything together! Thank you for the countless laughs and the endless silliness! Thank you for making this a place I wanted to invest fully in!
To the Vortex of RUE my sophomore year, thank you for being yourselves and for allowing me to do the same! Thank you for road tripping, working out, and cutting out a million snowflakes with me! Thank you for loving me with your humor and for helping me get through the Sophomore Slump!
WJU Orientation, thank you for not only welcoming me into the school but for welcoming me onto your team! Thank you for giving me a reason to dress like a thug in public, for letting me use my loud voice for something useful, for introducing me to so many incredible people, and for allowing me to build wonderful friendships with our team!
To the young women that made being an RA worth it all, thank you! Thank you for letting me be a part of your life! Thank you for trusting me with bits and pieces of your stories. Thank you for being able to make me laugh til I could pee my pants, and for instilling in me the fear of wearing loose pants. Thank you for helping me learn how to spell with countless hours spent playing Bananagrams. Thank you for embracing life with me, challenging and encouraging me, and for teaching me more about the love of Jesus! Thank you for not just being my residents, but for becoming my friends!
Thank you, to the most wonderful RA staff I ever had the privilege of serving on! Thank you for teaching me the beauty of differences and the importance of strengths. Thank you for loving me in my weaknesses and encouraging me in my burnout. Thank you for your honesty and willingness to withstand the rockiest of trials. Thank you for your hearts to serve, love, ask hard questions, and be raw and authentic. Thank you for practical jokes that escalated to nothing climatic. Thank you for weird noises, many puzzle pieces, and for endless support. Thank you for competition and for empowerment! Thank you for being you!
To the team that allowed me the privilege of leading them to Haiti, thank you for trusting us with your lives! Thank you for your joy in service! Thank you for your beautiful outlook on life and your desire to join into all God is doing! Thank you for your hearts for Him and for others! Thank you for not only sharing love with people in another country on a short-term trip, but thank you for living out lives that love well here and now! Thank you for still being a beautiful example to me of flexibility and allowing God to have His way because "He already knows!"
Office of Student Development, thank you for giving me a job! But even more so, thank you for making it more than a job! Thank you for caring for students and for not looking down on me because I am young! Thank you for the many tempting treats set out on the front desk and the opportunities you create to build the fruits of the Spirit, especially self-control. Thank you for how you serve with the selflessness and humility of Jesus Christ and being men and women whom I have learned from on a daily basis.
Chapel Staff, thank you for being the holiest and humblest branch of humans! Thank you for all the prayer, fake and real. Without all of you, Jessup would cease to be a Christ-centered Higher Education. (Not really, but you are too humble so I need to inflate your head a little more). Thank you for dry, sarcastic humor and many productive staff meetings! (I hope you can sense my sarcasm now!) Thank you for also teaching me more about humility, integrity, service, and thinking outside the box. Thank you for helping me understand what it means to worship God with every area of life. And to the rest of the Campus Ministries staff, thank you for being Jesus with skin on in my life and in the lives of so many others! Thank you for showing me how tangible love can be and how beautiful service is when it is a lifestyle!
To my professors, thank you for your wisdom! Thank you for believing in me, educating me, challenging me, and shaping me. Thank you for all the time you have spent in and out of the classroom to invest in our education to help us grow and learn. Thank you for making learning enjoyable and practical. Thank you for truly going above and beyond!
To the Youth Ministry department, thank you for knowing how to have fun! Thank you also for being so much more than the fun department, but for caring about making an impact in this world in whatever way you can! Thank you for teaching me not to try to fit myself into a mold, but to be who God created me to be to the best of my ability! Thank you also for putting up with all my shenanigans over the year, it was not an easy task, I'm sure!
To all the departments I had the pleasure of minoring in, thank you for expanding my mind and equipping me in all the ways that you did! Thank you for helping me walk into the unknown and making it attainable! Thank you for being worth all the extra work!
To the friends who have come into my life over the years, thank you for leaving incredible footprints on my heart! To those who have been a part of my life for any season, thank you for leaving an impact. Thank you for the joy you have brought into my life and the ways you have challenged me to love Jesus with more of who I am. Thank you for the laughter and tears we have shared, for the acceptance you offered, and the memories I cherish. Thank you for welcoming my utter weirdness so lovingly! Thank you for long conversations and hugs in passing. Thank you for letting me get to know you, and thank you for taking the time to get to know me and loving me still! Thank you for giving me a wider view of who God is through who you are!
To the roommate who has willingly lived in close proximity to me for four years in a row, thank you doesn't seem to cut it. Thank you for being an incredible dance party and ballad duet partner! Thank you for loving me no matter how many dumb things I say or things I do to upset you. Thank you for making me laugh uncontrollably, for helping me make life an adventure, and for the unquestionable comfort when life seemed unbearable. Thank you for always bringing me back to the feet of Jesus. Thank you for being a nurse, shoulder to cry on, style consultant, servant, source of advice, and sister. Thank you for endless memories, for walking through the good and bad, and for representing Jesus so beautifully!
To the God of the Universe, thank you for being the reason all of this could have made an impact of my life to begin with! Thank you for all the people who have come into my life to teach me more about you in some way, shape, or form! Thank you for allowing me to join in on what you are doing at WJU. Thank you that one silly blog post could not even begin to contain all that I am thankful for! Thank you for all the people who made the past four years what they were! Thank you for having all of my life in your hands, including the unknowns of what is next! Thank you for taking the unfamiliar and making it a home! Thank you for your provision and your love! Thank you for being faithful throughout this journey and for continuing to be faithful now that it is time to close this chapter. Thank you for how you are using each and every person that has been a part of my life over the years in ways they may not even know! Wow, you are really good!
I wish I could do a better job at expressing my gratitude, but this is really only scratching the surface. I could go on and on, but I think this may already be long enough! Just know, the depths of gratitude I have for my time spent at WJU cannot simply be expressed in a blog post. So, this is just an attempt at the impossible. I cannot say it is easy to leave, but I can say that I am eternally blessed and impacted that I was able to come!
So to everyone who has helped make WJU what it is today, from the depths of my heart, thank you!
Boy, do I believe them?!
I look back at the beginning of it all and it seems like yesterday and lifetimes ago can somehow align. It is crazy what four years can do to a person, what memories and transformation it can hold, and who it will bring in and out of your life. I came into this adventure wanting to pour all I had into this short season of life, but now I have to figure out what to do with all the parts of me that I have to leave behind.
Name an emotion on the spectrum and I can almost guarantee that I am experiencing it or have experienced it over the past few weeks.
Trying to sort through all of my emotions from all the transitions and adjustments of life currently, I expressed my frustrations to the Lord about my inability to make sense of it all. He responded in sweet, tenderness and spoke to the depths of my heart, "Stop trying to process it all and just sit at my feet." Just be with Him--focused on Him.
So, here I am. Trying to get myself to sit at the feet of Jesus. And the only adequate response seems to be thankfulness.
What makes this transition such emotional turmoil is the fact that I truly have so much to be thankful for! Here is part of my tearstained thankfulness...
Mom and Dad, thank you for letting me embark on this journey! Thank you for raising me up in the name of Jesus and for working your butts off to support me through this adventure in every way possible. Also, thank you for just being downright incredible parents and friends!
To my loving grandparents, thank you for who you are and how you love me! Thank you for believing in me and investing in me immensely! I am so grateful for the years I could spend so close to you! I would not have known about Jessup if it weren't for you!
To the rest of my Northern family, thank you for the home cooked meals, the sweet hugs, the invitations to celebrations, and the love you share so willingly!
The rest of my big family (immediate and extended), thank you for loving me from a distance and for letting me leave! Thank you for sharing your space with me when I come back and for keeping home, "home"! For those who I don't get to see often, thank you for always believing in me and supporting me with lots of love!
To the lovely ladies of PUE way back during my freshman year, thank you for being the ones who made Jessup my home! Thank you for all the fun times we had as we did everything together! Thank you for the countless laughs and the endless silliness! Thank you for making this a place I wanted to invest fully in!
To the Vortex of RUE my sophomore year, thank you for being yourselves and for allowing me to do the same! Thank you for road tripping, working out, and cutting out a million snowflakes with me! Thank you for loving me with your humor and for helping me get through the Sophomore Slump!
WJU Orientation, thank you for not only welcoming me into the school but for welcoming me onto your team! Thank you for giving me a reason to dress like a thug in public, for letting me use my loud voice for something useful, for introducing me to so many incredible people, and for allowing me to build wonderful friendships with our team!
To the young women that made being an RA worth it all, thank you! Thank you for letting me be a part of your life! Thank you for trusting me with bits and pieces of your stories. Thank you for being able to make me laugh til I could pee my pants, and for instilling in me the fear of wearing loose pants. Thank you for helping me learn how to spell with countless hours spent playing Bananagrams. Thank you for embracing life with me, challenging and encouraging me, and for teaching me more about the love of Jesus! Thank you for not just being my residents, but for becoming my friends!
Thank you, to the most wonderful RA staff I ever had the privilege of serving on! Thank you for teaching me the beauty of differences and the importance of strengths. Thank you for loving me in my weaknesses and encouraging me in my burnout. Thank you for your honesty and willingness to withstand the rockiest of trials. Thank you for your hearts to serve, love, ask hard questions, and be raw and authentic. Thank you for practical jokes that escalated to nothing climatic. Thank you for weird noises, many puzzle pieces, and for endless support. Thank you for competition and for empowerment! Thank you for being you!
To the team that allowed me the privilege of leading them to Haiti, thank you for trusting us with your lives! Thank you for your joy in service! Thank you for your beautiful outlook on life and your desire to join into all God is doing! Thank you for your hearts for Him and for others! Thank you for not only sharing love with people in another country on a short-term trip, but thank you for living out lives that love well here and now! Thank you for still being a beautiful example to me of flexibility and allowing God to have His way because "He already knows!"
Office of Student Development, thank you for giving me a job! But even more so, thank you for making it more than a job! Thank you for caring for students and for not looking down on me because I am young! Thank you for the many tempting treats set out on the front desk and the opportunities you create to build the fruits of the Spirit, especially self-control. Thank you for how you serve with the selflessness and humility of Jesus Christ and being men and women whom I have learned from on a daily basis.
Chapel Staff, thank you for being the holiest and humblest branch of humans! Thank you for all the prayer, fake and real. Without all of you, Jessup would cease to be a Christ-centered Higher Education. (Not really, but you are too humble so I need to inflate your head a little more). Thank you for dry, sarcastic humor and many productive staff meetings! (I hope you can sense my sarcasm now!) Thank you for also teaching me more about humility, integrity, service, and thinking outside the box. Thank you for helping me understand what it means to worship God with every area of life. And to the rest of the Campus Ministries staff, thank you for being Jesus with skin on in my life and in the lives of so many others! Thank you for showing me how tangible love can be and how beautiful service is when it is a lifestyle!
To my professors, thank you for your wisdom! Thank you for believing in me, educating me, challenging me, and shaping me. Thank you for all the time you have spent in and out of the classroom to invest in our education to help us grow and learn. Thank you for making learning enjoyable and practical. Thank you for truly going above and beyond!
To the Youth Ministry department, thank you for knowing how to have fun! Thank you also for being so much more than the fun department, but for caring about making an impact in this world in whatever way you can! Thank you for teaching me not to try to fit myself into a mold, but to be who God created me to be to the best of my ability! Thank you also for putting up with all my shenanigans over the year, it was not an easy task, I'm sure!
To all the departments I had the pleasure of minoring in, thank you for expanding my mind and equipping me in all the ways that you did! Thank you for helping me walk into the unknown and making it attainable! Thank you for being worth all the extra work!
To the friends who have come into my life over the years, thank you for leaving incredible footprints on my heart! To those who have been a part of my life for any season, thank you for leaving an impact. Thank you for the joy you have brought into my life and the ways you have challenged me to love Jesus with more of who I am. Thank you for the laughter and tears we have shared, for the acceptance you offered, and the memories I cherish. Thank you for welcoming my utter weirdness so lovingly! Thank you for long conversations and hugs in passing. Thank you for letting me get to know you, and thank you for taking the time to get to know me and loving me still! Thank you for giving me a wider view of who God is through who you are!
To the roommate who has willingly lived in close proximity to me for four years in a row, thank you doesn't seem to cut it. Thank you for being an incredible dance party and ballad duet partner! Thank you for loving me no matter how many dumb things I say or things I do to upset you. Thank you for making me laugh uncontrollably, for helping me make life an adventure, and for the unquestionable comfort when life seemed unbearable. Thank you for always bringing me back to the feet of Jesus. Thank you for being a nurse, shoulder to cry on, style consultant, servant, source of advice, and sister. Thank you for endless memories, for walking through the good and bad, and for representing Jesus so beautifully!
To the God of the Universe, thank you for being the reason all of this could have made an impact of my life to begin with! Thank you for all the people who have come into my life to teach me more about you in some way, shape, or form! Thank you for allowing me to join in on what you are doing at WJU. Thank you that one silly blog post could not even begin to contain all that I am thankful for! Thank you for all the people who made the past four years what they were! Thank you for having all of my life in your hands, including the unknowns of what is next! Thank you for taking the unfamiliar and making it a home! Thank you for your provision and your love! Thank you for being faithful throughout this journey and for continuing to be faithful now that it is time to close this chapter. Thank you for how you are using each and every person that has been a part of my life over the years in ways they may not even know! Wow, you are really good!
I wish I could do a better job at expressing my gratitude, but this is really only scratching the surface. I could go on and on, but I think this may already be long enough! Just know, the depths of gratitude I have for my time spent at WJU cannot simply be expressed in a blog post. So, this is just an attempt at the impossible. I cannot say it is easy to leave, but I can say that I am eternally blessed and impacted that I was able to come!
So to everyone who has helped make WJU what it is today, from the depths of my heart, thank you!
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