DStilled

To the Men and Women of UVa

Pseudo-update (12/27):
I am off to DC for Christmas Conference in just a few short hours. I am very excited but I will probably take a nap or two on the way (yes, mom I’ll stop of course). It is now 3 am and I just finished a five person game of Warcraft III with Sam, William, David, and Ryan. It was very fun but now I must sleep. Update and PICTURES will be soon.

That’s it. I just saw off the last of the Virginia company here at dear old UVa. My last goodbyes, my last merry Christmases, my last hugs. It’s a strange thing, this moving on. I have become so attached – far more than I thought I was – to this place and the people in it. This has been an absolutely amazing semester and I’d like to thank all of you who helped make it as such. God is beyond…anything I can say. He is greater, more loving, more in control, and cooler than the entirety of this world’s goodness combined. He did this. He got me here. He paid for it. He orchestrated the details while we all ran around like bees. Relationships are so vital to my existence and He overwhelmed me with awesome people in my life: Jason, Heather, Aaron, Christa, Matt, Anastasia, Logan, Tracey, Jonathan, and everyone else whose friendships deepened immensely these few short months. Thank you all for your time, for your companionship, for your advice, and for your love. You made me feel like I meant something to someone. You tangibly gave me a community to belong. I came into most of your lives midrun at UVa and left before it was all over for you, but the time here to me was worth every out of state penny spent. I may drive away today from Charlottesville a graduate of Mr. Jefferson’s University, but it was my growth spiritually and emotionally that makes me who I am today. I am better than I was when I came. More equipped to face the world of my destiny, more prepared for the trials of life, and more ready to depend on Jesus every step of the way. I will miss you all that showed me what it was to live. I will be back in God’s good timing. “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Amen.

“Heavy Snow Warning”

This was the forecast this morning: “Today: Periods of snow, mainly after 10am. High near 33. Northeast wind between 6 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. Tonight: Periods of snow, mainly before 1am. Low around 24. North wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.”

So I’m VERY excited! There is much snow both on the ground and in the air. This gives me cause to smile a lot. We didn’t get anywhere near 10 inches on the ground but a good 3 inches and rising on places where it stuck early. Another thing giving me cause to jump up and click my heels is writing my Flourishing paper. As some of you know, I was in a class that had as its strength a semester long self-improvement project. I chose to be more like Jesus. The way that I went about quantifying that was to increase my prayer times per day. Finishing it is a feat of great goodness to me. This was my favorite, most powerful, longest paper I’ve ever written. All said and done with graphs, references, title page and whatnot, is 25 pages. I’m not going to have a long, sad entry about leaving UVa yet. I do highly recommend you read my paper though. It is the best piece of scholastic and spiritual work I’ve ever been a part of. And who knows, you might learn something about prayer or something else that will change your life. Click Here!

PS. Be sure to do the CHRISTMAS CHEER link I have to the left. It’s REDICULOUSLY FUN! Also, do you see Narnia in the picture? I’m now in book 5.