wow, it's amazing to me that it's already july 18th.
these past couple weeks have been so refreshing. it's amazing how God knows exactly what we need and when we need it. 2 weekends ago, i had a friday night wedding here in ohio (that was wonderfuly by the way) and then saturday morning i headed out to indiana for another wedding. robin and josh got married in crawfordsville, indiana. i loved their wedding..God was so present and everything was beautiful. it was also wonderful to see many many iwu friends...danika davies, christy sallee, adam thada, nate felt, kyle scott, kristen willey, megan weaver, paul kind, david scott, lindsay miller, emily hasen, danielle searl....and many more. i was able to get to know some people even better, and meet some new people as well.
then the weekend continued as i headed back to marion to spend a couple nights with danika on campus. this time it was weird to be back, spending the night on campus...realizing that my life as a student there is over, and it will never be the same. as much as i didn't enjoy marion during my time as a student, i realized how much i will miss it. and i realized how much i already miss having a community of believers surrounding me each day. it's not reality, though, and change is good. but it's hard. and i love fellowship. so it was good to get a little "dose" of it again. we hung out with nate, grant, and jeremiah....made a taco bell run, got a movie at family video...rode bikes, and just hung out. it felt like college all over again, and it was nice :) i happened to see jmak, and found out that he was moving out that very day. it was good to see him again. i took a walk around campus, and then got the chance to eat lunch with dr. lo and his wife. part of me wonders if i really will end up back in marion in the spring after romania. danika and i talked a lot about the huge need for ministry there. it's a thought...

then this past weekend, yet another wedding. alyson dittenber and seth kinley, both from iwu. it was fun to see more iwuers, and angie brecheisen came to spend the night here with me in columbus. we talked about life and changes and seasons and Gods leading....and the struggles of it all. it was good to talk and feel like we understood each other.

tonight i drove around arlington for an hour, with the windows and sunroof open, my favorite music playing, and a beautiful sunset. i drove down old wooded streets and explored places down by the river that i had never seen before, yet always wondered about. God used it to bring peace to my heart, just what i have really been lacking and longing for this summer.

thanks Lord :)

aw, aren't my brothers cute?!