Another Long Rambling Post - Read It If You Dare (It's got pictures)!

     Exactly two months ago today I set of on a grand adventure.
     Exactly two months from today I will be back in Tennessee!
     Therefore, the semester is halfway over!That's hard to believe. In some ways, it feels like I've been here forever, and in other ways I can't believe how fast time is flying...
     As much as I love being here - as much as I love the city lights, my Bible classes, my floor, the library, the coffee shop, and all the wonderful opportunities Chicago has to offer - I can't wait spend Christmas at home with my family. Skype is great, but it is no substitute for physically being with the people you love. I can't wait to play my piano, hang out with Dad, go to Target with Mom and eat hotdogs, stay up late with my brother looking at funny pictures on Facebook, go to the final Hobbit premiere with some of the most awesome people on the planet, go to my church, see the kids and teens from Bible club, cuddle my darling kitty-cat Clarabelle, and take a break from the busyness of college life in general. Anyways, I'm excited about December!
     While I'm thinking about December, here's  a random flashback to LAST December, mostly because I just like making collages on Ribbet.com...

      Now for what has been happening here the past week!
      On Sunday, a friend and I grabbed our cameras and headed out for a fun afternoon in Lincoln Park. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll just show you several thousand words worth of pictures instead of telling you all about it (thanks Kimberlee for some of the pictures!):

     Monday and Tuesday were regular school days, followed by MISSIONS CONFERENCE for the rest of the week! It was wonderful. Way, way, WAY more intense in every way than I expected it would be, but so, so, SO great! I was challenged, convicted, renewed, and inspired to dream big dreams for God.

      I want to live in full surrender to His plans for my life - wherever He may lead me.
      I want to live my life fully devoted to loving Him, loving others, and making an impact in my Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and furthest corners of the world (Acts 1:8)!
      Life with God is an adventure, and one day I'll be able to look back over the story of my life and see how God's fingerprints are on every word, every page, every chapter. In the happy parts, in the exciting parts, in the anxious parts, in the sad and lonely parts, in the easy parts and the hard parts, God is the author of my life story. Wow! I just can't explain how awesome it is to know that God, who loves me and is more powerful than anything ever, is with me always. He is with me in the Appalachian Mountains. He is with me on the 7th floor of a dorm in Chicago. He is with me on the city streets. He will be with me wherever in the world I end up after a graduate, and ten years from then, and ten years from then. Really grasping that truth somehow takes away all fear of the unknown. Whatever God calls me to do, no matter how difficult or even impossible it may seem, He is with me, and that's enough.
      I've said this before, but life with God is an epic adventure! If you're reading this, embrace the adventure. Move where God leads no matter how much fear tries to stop you and no matter how unlikely His leading seems. I never in a million years would have dreamed myself here. But God did. And despite the hardships, I wouldn't change it for the world!
     Give God the pen of your life's story, and embrace the adventure He writes.  

(This has been your essential Tolkien reference of the day. You're welcome :)