My mind is racing in a hundred different directions.

{Photo of Ireland, stolen from Grace Bentley}

I must find my center. Sounds very new/age hippie-esq, but if you had just said hello and goodbye to your friends, met new people, experienced renewal, still had to pack to leave in 2 days for Rome and Florence and for 3 months in Ireland, you would feel your head spinning too.

Before I go any further with my crazy itinerary, there is a major praise to be said. Leaving JBU last semester, I was discouraged to say the least. I went through a year of gruelling growth, made my fair share of mistakes along the way and walked off JBU's campus with my faith stripped of vitality.

I entered into the summer burdened, angry, bitter and ready to forget all my worries in the most tangible way possible. I'll let your mind wander on that one. Bottom line, God had other plans. I look back on this summer in pain but with joy, the fact that I serve a God who took my mell of a hess life, turned it upside down and started to mold and shape it His way. Several very key things happened this summer that has forever changed my faith and heart. If you want to know specifics just ask, otherwise trust my words when I say; God is good.

Visiting JBU this weekend was overwhelming. Seeing my friends, meeting new ones, having a good friend from home check out campus, watching my younger brother do the "college" thing, see the changes in reslife, experiencing a student body filled with zeal and life, hearing and seeing the growth in friends hearts, and feeling out of place all at the same time. It was a lot to take in at once. The most encouraging thing about this weekend was seeing the growth that happened in friends. Seeing God's faithfulness and watching friends be giddy and joyful about what God will do this year. I loved being there, I loved being on campus and I loved seeing the light in peoples eyes.

This weekend was a delight and encouragement to my heart. I saw the very beauty that I have begged to see, the beauty that lies in the rawness of a persons heart. A heart wrapped in the love and mercy of God, willing and ready to please Him.

What I have to look forward to:

Friends. Major. Change. Ireland. Growth. Beauty.

I'm ready to dive deep, get messy again, live real and do it all in His name.

Thursday: Leave from Saint Louis for Atlanta with Alison, meet Karis to catch a connecting flight to Dublin, lay over for 8 hours in Dublin, take a flight to Rome, spend 2 days and take a train to Florence, spend 2 days and take a train back to Rome. Fly from Rome to Dublin, take a bus to Belfast, take a taxi to Lakeside Manor. Arriving a day later then everyone else. oopse, we booked our flights wrong. OH WELL :)

5 days. 3 girls. 2 cities. this is going to be one big adventure!

{Photo of where I will be living for 3.5 months, stolen from Grace Bentley}