I went to a Third Day concert with Namratta and was struck by how their old songs had been ingrained in my heart from when I was younger.  They were the songs I sang when I first learned about God, and the words flowed out just as easily as back then.  Songs like "Your Love Oh Lord" used to sound so simple and lighthearted but to still be able to sing them now, with a childlike heart, even after all that has passed and is still dauntingly to come - it means so much more.  What was first love has deepened.  To be reminded that God's mercy and love and goodness and just who He is hasn't changed after all these years is a great comfort.

The night before the last first day of classes, this was what God had prepared:

'On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."' - Mark 2:17

I am here for a reason much greater than I, greater than any small hopes I plan for myself.  There's a much bigger picture that I need to keep striving towards.

Some days you've just got to blast Taylor Swift on repeat and try to forget about things.

This morning, I decided to go out and tend to the backyard for a little bit before it got too hot - watered the plants and did some weeding.  But the closer I got to each organism, the more fascinating each became.  I saw the different patterns in each moss species, distinguished the leaves of the weeds vs. the budding blueberry shoots, and wondered if perhaps weeds could serve a useful purpose to an eco-system.  The snap peas were beginning to burst forth through the white petals, and some of the blueberries are ripening.  I found a tiny neon orange gooey-looking beetle (quite fashion forward) and watched a lonely bumblebee push through the pea flowers to look for nectar.  I wished it well as it flew on, sad that we didn't have more flowers for it to search through.  We need more nature.