Refreshment

I have felt so refreshed the past few days.

(For the most part at least.)

And you know what it has been coming from? UNPLANNED THINGS. Seeing friends I don't usually see, little conversations, shared laughter over something so seemingly random, and conversations with strangers in coffee shops and elevators. I even felt calm about my biochemistry midterm.

I don't know why God decided to do it this week but MAN He is blessing me so incredibly much. Through the little things. The little things that end up being the parts of our days that stand out the most.

It's reminded me of how laughable "coincidences" are. Nothing, not one thing, is coincidence. I think we were all destined to run into each other at certain times in our lives.

And it makes me so excited, instills in me this eagerness for the future. I want to get up, I want to jump up and talk to everyone. I want to love people. I want to be, with God's help, that little "random" moment of their day that stands out and makes a mediocre or bad day not really that bad or boring. That little thing they smile about as they walk away, as much out of wonderment and confusion as a spark of joy.

I just needed to get this all out because it so excited me!

Though in all of this, the devil latches a hold. This love of connecting, of loving people - it gets me antsy, makes me wonder why I'm here in Columbus, taking classes instead of making some other difference in the country, in the world. I know right now, He does want me here. But I'm so impatient. Then I think, well, what if there's a reason He's keeping me on this campus an extra year? (I mean, if He is, then I suppose there is a reason.) So why not spend time digging into people, loving them, and using my classes to have a chance to do it? Why not work as hard in my classes as I can - while still managing my time so as to not neglect Him, friends, volunteering, church, or other responsibilities?

My prayer - to have confidence in Him to be as outgoing and friendly as I most naturally am not. Let people know that they are loved, even if I don't know them from Adam.

My prayer - to keep God at the center of this, God and others, and not make it about what I can do or how it makes me feel, rather than how it makes others feel.

We can do this.
We are all strangers here, but what unwritten rule says we have to stay that way? :)

Peace & Blessings