Expectant Holiday

Things have been kind of slow ever since CRAM ended, so I haven't had the urge to really post anything of significance. I knew this summer was going to be slow, but I guess I didn't realize just how slow.

For the first time, I'm ok with that.

At school, I move too fast. Last semester was probably my hardest semester work-wise, not to mention other things such as YC, dating Jena, and so on and so forth. Now, I'm jobless and girlfriend-less. I am taking a summer class, so there's still work, but for the most part, I'm not doing much this summer.

Home is so good for me. I love spending time with my family. We went bowling tonight (I got trounced) and had a really good time. CRAM was a barrel full of jokes. I get to read all the books I don't have time to read during the year. I ride my bike a lot and not just because I'm going on a 60mile bike ride in August. I cleaned out my closet. I stained my grandpa's fence. And there's still a month left.

Past summers, I've tried to just shut down and veg for the summer.

This summer, I'm taking a holiday. Not a vacation.

Vacations are usually escapes from reality. Everybody piles in the van, rents a hotel room and lounges on the beach for days at a time. Brains shut down, hearts turn off and when everyone comes back, no one really feels energized or rejuvenated. For instance, Panama City with my family was a vacation.

Holidays, on the other hand, are times of rest. They are times when the family gets in the van, rents a hotel room and mistakenly goes on a twenty mile bike ride around Sanibel Island. They are the times that revitalize your life and the times in which you allow God to restore you. In the words of a good friend, you have to want it though. This summer is just that.

The more I think about what next year is bringing, I get more and more excited. Its been a year since I've been around TU for the fall semester and while I loved my Ireland experience, I'm really pumped to be back on campus for the fall. I'll be a PA on my floor, get a whole new load of bright-eyed freshmen noobs, complain about Airband, go to SE Asia with my lighthouse team in J-Term, and joke around with the best of them.

God's teaching me to be expectant about next year. Not to go in with specific expectations of people, events, or anything, but to expect that God will move. If I have specific plans that I expect God to meet going into next year, what good will that do if He decides something different is better? What if I expect the wrong thing from my freshmen? What if I expect the wrong thing from my friends? Instead, I expect God will do what He will - I just have to be on the lookout. In the meantime, I'm content to sit here and allow God to restore me.