What's next

hi, friends. well, im all graduated. can you stinkin believe that?? its a bit frightening, actually. and overwhelming and terrifying and suffocating. but its good.

i just read this today and was very encouraged by it:

"In these past few weeks, I’ve realized that the big mystery of college graduation revolves around the question, “What now?” Where have these past 18 years of education brought me? I am surrounded by people asking that same question, and the majority of my friends (including me) have a cloud of Eeyore-like gloom over our heads. We walk around wondering what’s going to happen to us and what we should do with our lives.

We live without concrete answers, and yet our society calls for 9-to-5 decisions. There doesn’t seem to be room for God-inspired passion, and it’s hard to let go of the control we yearn for. We really don’t want to let God take control of all our questions, doubts or entire life.

The truth is that I don’t know what I want to be, but I know what I don’t want to be: a person who holds onto everything and doesn’t let God in. I don’t want to become someone who doesn’t love what they do, who doesn’t enjoy making a difference, someone who lets life pass by without enjoying every moment, breathing in every breath and loving every minute of it. I’m not sure where that leaves me, but I do know that I cannot do this on my own. I’m not built for that. All I can do is trust and hold fast to everything that God has planned for me.

Easier said than done? Yes, but it’s one of those “sky’s the limit” instances where there is no end to God’s amazing love for us. I don’t need to worry about my future plans if I place those plans in the hands of the One who holds the future. I’ll sit back and enjoy the ride, because wherever it takes me, it will be where God wants me to be."
-Lisa Beccera, Relevant Magazine

*sigh of relief*

well i feel better.

an update is coming soon, no worries. theres lots to tell and more to do before January 18th than i care to think about.
but all is well.

Beginnings

hello friends! i hope, wherever you are, that you are exceedingly well. the purpose of this blog is to provide those who care with a glimpse of my time in Spain. firstly- if you are here, you undoubtedly played a huge part in making it possible for me to have this grand adventure, so thank you. a thousand times, thank you. i am unfathomably grateful.

why am i going to Spain?
why not?
what else does a young female college grad do when she has no clue where the Lord is leading her next? she goes to Spain, of course!! it was silly of you to even ask. :)

a brilliant author named Mike Howerton perhaps says it best:
"I'm working on a philosophy of Appreciation...the central idea is that God (the show starter, the unmoved mover) has given us, for whatever reason, life. Our appreciation of this gift is the appropriate form of worship...enjoy the gift and use it well! Perhaps this is as close to praise as a lost humanity can get... Don't slow. Don't tire. Simply live, and smile."

all around us, there is beauty and truth. i want to find it. i want you to find it. you dont have to look very hard, and you dont have to be in Spain to do it. but the good Lord has provided a way, and i am taking it, with eagerness and anxiousness and wide-eyed wonder. thank you, Lord.

today, i pray you experience simplicity, truth, and beauty through the philosophy of Appreciation. i love you.