In Anticipation

This week, I write in the midst of a whirlwind. I am aiming at completing this post in as little time as possible so that I can pursue a bedtime earlier than I have achieved thus far this year. Today, I awoke at the spritely hour of 5 am to go snowboarding further north on the island. We were blessed with gorgeous weather (thus my sunburnt, heat-radiating face), and considerably better conditions than a few weeks back. It was a great day of riding, but needless to say, now that this hour has rolled around, I am exhausted.

That being said, we are also currently attempting to move towards completion on several persisting homework assignments before heading our separate ways for reading break - starting this thursday. Cue the anticipation, however subdued by my present lack of energy. On Thursday morning, I will be heading off with several of my co-horts on a 24-hour long bus ride to.... my motherland!!! Youth Quake is calling our names, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to see some flat ground again, to visiting with my parents, however briefly, and to participating in all the festivities that constitute YQ. Again, much anticipation. The break will be a refreshing change of scenery that I think I'm going to appreciate immensely.

And now, what to say of this past week? I wrote a test, I had a one-day class, half-heartedly did homework.... I participated in a Girls Overnighter, in which we managed to leave the boys behind for some much needed female bonding over dancing, food, truth or dare, prayer and sharing. It was such an encouraging blessing... I am constantly floored by the ridiculous amount of undeserved love I receive from these beautiful ladies I live with. Shortly after this, we were rejoined with our fellas for... Valentine's Day, that most cliché, and yet coveted, of holidays. All I will say is that my Valentine's was lovely. To say anything more would seem to go against the spirit of the holiday, especially when indulged upon in the form of blogger. I will, however, mention that I ended the day off with a triple bowling and burgers date. This involved myself and my two roomies hitting up the city in costume for an evening of '50s fun with one of the boys' rooms. Fun was had by all. Here's me wishing you all a Happy Belated Love Day! Hope it was a good one.

And so, this brings me up to Sunday. The usual: church in the morning, lunch and hustle in the afternoon, back to the Bridge and home for hurried conversation and bed, was the order of the day. I am unsure of what more to expand upon in this realm this week, except to say that I have recently come to the stark realization that I have two months left out here and nearly one month of that will be spent in NYC. This means that I have very few Sundays left at Cobblehill, and this has brought me to a place of reflection: on the past months, on the Lord's blessings and sustainment, on my purpose and place in that church, on my future involvement there as I attempt to make the most of my time. I pray that I use it effectively, that I continue to intentionally build into relationships and be uncomfortable for the sake of the Kingdom.

In love, gratefulness, and relative brevity,

Jess