Time Capsule

       This last semester at college was a pretty amazing experience, and I know I will never forget the incredible student teaching experience as I long as I live. However, I did go through some personal experiences during this time that provided bumps in the road. I have come to realize that life is unpredictable, but whether it be a smooth, bumpy or combination of the two kind of ride....life is beautiful.
        I celebrated my birthday in March and 2 days later, my grandfather died. My family has been expecting it for some time, but I still grieved nonetheless. My parents had come to see me the weekend before, and brought home many of my things. About 2 weeks later, my wonderful cousin came and got me so I could be home for the funeral. At this point, I brought home more things. I was only home for about a day. Here I stood in my bedroom full of the few things I brought home and knowing I had a lot more coming back.
      I returned to school and finished up my semester. (Graduation was a blast by the way!) Anyway, I almost felt nauseated about all I was bringing home to fit in my room. I knew I had a major clean up project ahead of me. I dove right in and began filling up boxes for Goodwill and trash bags for the trash. I can only pray this experience has forever cured me of my hoarding problem I obviously suffered from when I was younger. Now I have a decently organized room that has been rearranged for the first time ever. I love it!
       Many of the things I came across brought back all sorts of memories. Happy, sad, painful, exciting and everything in between. One particular find was a journal. I was flipping through the pages of poems, song lyrics and other random things I had written in it. Then I found this journal entry I wrote about the last five years of my life. At that time I had been reflecting on the journey God brought me through after my first school closed. For a long time it haunted my thoughts. I believe this entry began the time when I started letting go of the past, and just started being thankful for the present and looking forward to the future. The most ironic thing about this entry was that it was written almost exactly 5 years ago from this date. I soon found myself writing about the past 5 years, so who knows, maybe this will become a tradition. Anyway, though many things have changed, I am so thankful for all the blessings God has given me. He is my constant in this ever changing world.
     I don't know what is next for me, but I am so excited about the possibilities. I kept of few reminders of the past, but I am still thankful for the present and so looking forward to the future. Life just keeps getting better with the hand of God leading me.