A Year in the Life

...so it's been a little while since I've written anything of substance, but I felt like writing something tonight, so here I am. And, since it's the last day of the year, it's an auspicious time to ponder the year in its entirety.

2009 receives the award for being the most monumental year of my life. Before 2009, 2008 held the spot, and before that, 2005. Anyhow, 2009 saw me at my best and my worst, and brought good times and bad, and many a lesson was learned.

I could completely lay out the entire year with every detail included, but since that would take quite a while, here is the Sparknotes version :

• January - May: My second (and final) semester at Samford University. Early in the semester, I began to realize how unhappy I was at Samford. Extenuating circumstances from life outside of college combined with the crippling loneliness from the lack of any good friends at Samford as well as huge doubts about the future brought on a heavy melancholy that made the semester a dark gray blur. I had never felt so desperate. I clung onto God like never before, and at times He was my only real friend. And as He has been time and time again, He was faithful. New doors opened, and I was set to transfer, to escape the dry and weary land that was my life at Samford.
• May - August: For the most part, the summer was spent recovering from the semester I had just had. The drive back home at the end of the semester was bright and sunny, and as I stepped out of my car and walked into my house, I said to myself, "I live here." The statement, although simple, brought an enormous amount of relief. It was great to be home, and the summer was full of good times with family and friends.
• August - December: Became Belmont! I went off to Belmont, and in a nutshell had the best time of my life! I met so many great people, built great friendships, and was challenged by many new experiences. Even though the semester is over, I still can't get over how awesome it was (and I refuse to get over it).

...and here I am about halfway through winter break.

Being home with friends and the fam has been great, but it has also had its challenges. I know it may seem self-involved, but I feel as though I am put in the same old box whenever I return to Bolivar, regardless of any way I've changed or matured while I was away.

On the flip side, just as Bolivar expects me to be the same, I come back expecting it to be the same. But it's not. Things change. I forget that life continues regularly here, too.

Although I do enjoy seeing and talking to people in Bolivar that I haven't seen or talked to in a long time, sometimes it's just weird and awkward.

Also, some of the persons, places, and things, and ideas (nouns! but wouldn't it have been weird if I had just said "Some of the nouns"?) that occurred around this time in Bolivar last year were the beginnings of things that made the second semester at Samford so hard and have been the epitome of stuff that I've been dealing with all year long. I can't help but feel kind of stuck...and it's hard to move on when you're stuck.

...but with 2010 comes a fresh start.

...fresh starts...

God gives us fresh starts.

He gives them to us freely and fully.

Just like grace...

...all-sufficient grace for you and for me.