.: a new season :.

It is late into the evening... there is snow outside my windows... and a brand new semester begins tomorrow for me. I am beginning a brand new term here at Regent, and within me is a mixture of excitement and sadness. Sadness because my break is over, and for as much as I desired to be back here, there certainly are feelings of wishing for just a few more days back home. But then again, that is how vacation so often goes for me - the desire to be home during it and the desire to have more when it is over.



But along with my sadness is a rich excitement. An excitement as I fill out a fresh 2005 calendar with school assignments! An excitement as I make covers for each and every one of my classes! An excitement as I hear my roommate coming through the door once again (someone who continues to be a close companion on this current leg of my journey)! An excitement for the new start that I have as I walk through those doors tomorrow and see old familiar faces! And tonight, on the eve of the next big chapter of my life, I am hoping that God allows me to continue to see beyond all the homework and tests that have the potential to drown out my joy... and soak up the rich enviroment that I have the privledge of being a part of. And as friends of mine who are reading this even now, I invite you to partner with me in this prayer... not just for me but also for those all around me at Regent.



May this term be a created space for the Father to meet me in powerful ways... may He meet me in ways that seem far and unfamiliar to me (ways that I have seen Him move before, though not for some time now)... and may I discover passion, joy, love, excitement, hope, and renewal in and through things and people in ways that I could never have anticipated. May the Father catch me off guard and restore my heart beyond where I feel it is even tonight!