My best friend (who actually was my date to my most recent wedding engagement) sent me this link: friendationships and my mind was blown! I felt like this woman and I were the same person...it was really weird. I loved spending the last two hours getting to know her. She is a couple years older than I and works for Compassion International. Her blog is open and honest and she loves Jesus, what could be better?
Now that I have told you about her, I am going to put in another plug for the book I'm reading. I follow OwlCity's official blog even though I still struggle with a little bitterness towards Adam. My heart was sold after meeting him and I have been trying to get over him since! Oh, but it is so wonderful to have met a Christian musician who actually seems real. I'm so thankful for the experience and I pray that he continues on the path God has planned for him. Anyway...back in December, Adam blogged about Deitrich Bonhoeffer. This wasn't the first time I had heard the name (thank you History 235: Nazi Germany) so I kept his name in the back of my mind as I made my way through the semester. Today I made it to the library to find Desiring God, a book recommended by both Adam and a friend (this friend is actually real and active as a relationship in my life....unlike Adam....sometimes I really have problems haha, oh I'm such a dreamer). However, I could not find it so I browsed through the new book section. That is when I saw Bonhoeffer's face and was thrown back to December where I promised myself to read more about this influential Christian man who stood up against the Nazis. It is a heavy read but I'm so excited to continue this book and journey with Bonhoeffer.
I'm truly sorry that I did not write sooner. This semester was easily my worst and I am so thankful to God that I passed International Trade (thank you Kristen!!) and managed to survive, in one way or another (always the dramatic). I didn't realize when I boarded the plane in August what wonderful relationships awaited me. They were like presents in my life just waiting to be opened. I still get this fluttery feeling in my chest when I think of the ways God showed himself to me the four months in Belgium. As I boarded that plane I was seated next to a friend of a friend. We knew each other but hadn't had the opportunity to develop our relationship. I sat next to her and (being the dork that I am) told her that in four months we would be sitting next to each other with so many experiences behind us... "Imagine what will happen, who we will meet!?" She nodded, smiled her sweet smile and agreed that it would be very weird in four months to look back at what taken place. I didn't realize though how close we would get and how many experiences she and I would have together. I was/am so thankful for her friendship abroad. She and Julia got me through my sickness and inability to do ANY academic work (you remember those struggles, don't you?!)
This is Kristen and I, August 22nd, 2012. Please remember that I had just cried my eyes out. It was a rough day. But I can officially say that this is the day Kristen and I became "friends".
December 17th, 2012. Okay I post this picture with hesitation because it is not our best. The flash caused both of eyes to go blinky and I had only slept ten minutes. We had both just RAN to our plane because the airline bumped us off the flight. I almost cried. Wait, I did cry. Then they found us tickets and told us to run. ooo I look so attractive plus I have probably five pounds of face fat (something I coined because in my family when we gain weight it is first in the face and you CANNOT tell until you look at pictures...it is dreadful. At least I could tell if my pants didn't fit. Nope, I need a face measurer to find out if I'm gaining weight). It was the Belgium chocolate...and the Dutch food....and the Bible Studies at Bill and DeeDee's place. I blame them :)
The point of these two pictures (besides comparing how four months in a foreign country can wreck your body!) is to show our "full circleness" and how it related even to this semester for Kristen and I. On the flight home Kristen and I did sit next to each other (after we convinced someone to move for a while because a certain someone was bumped to first-class [Kristen] while I was back in economy living the dream) and we talked about how four months ago we had no idea what would happen and who we would meet, etc. It was the epitome of a full circle and it blew my mind even if I was expecting it since August.
Sunday night I took pictures off of my wall as Kristen took down my glow-in-the-dark stars (I will always have them regardless of how how I am). She mentioned how we were again at full circle because at the beginning of the semester she had joined the "work party" formed by friend to make my room look/feel more like home. During that time Kristen designed the constellations on my ceiling, allowing me to be surprised each night as I turned off the light and looked up to see the "Great Sky" (I want either glow in the dark stars or a sky light for my future house/hut/whatever building God puts me in). She put them up in January and took them down in May and stuck with me during the months in between. It was a blessing having her because we could reminisce about Belgium, the people, the stories and the memories. I didn't have to worry about bothering her by saying "Belgium this" and "Belgium that". We converted our friends to the love of speculoos and pulled all-nighters together while she kept tabs on my eye condition and the fact that my body and mind have been in a constant battle since leaving the US in August.
It is funny how, even though this was a really rough semester, things ended well. Our school has this brilliant idea of Senior Week. The week after finals Seniors hang out and have events scheduled each day till they graduate. Some of us lucky people (aka RAs) have to stay to close the dorms. At first it seems like an inconvenience till you realize how awesome it is to stay on campus to SLEEP (a concept most students forget about come finals) and hang out with friends without the guilt of a paper to do or test to study for. Last year I had the best time just hanging out with various friends and doing whatever we wanted to do or nothing at all! My favorite day of Senior week consisted of spending the day with two of my best friends; we just hung out in the sun and took pictures while walking around campus (I have a LAKE a minute from my dorm). That night I went with them and two other friends to an African Orphan Choir concert at the church I go to up at school. I almost died at that concert, it was so perfect. My friend (who knows me so well) looked at me at the conclusion of the concert and said "After I saw them before I wanted to go to Africa, and I never had that desire. Here you are and you've wanted to go....you must be ready to board that plane." I cheesed at him and probably said something unintelligible because that is what happens when Krissy gets excited. She claps her hands and smiles till her cheeks can't do it anymore and her eyes have thousands of crows' feet. The group of us then got ice cream and watched Pride and Prejudice. It was a wonderful night doing some of my favorite things with some of my favorite people.
The senior week this year involved different people but still such sweet memories. Though, almost a year after saying good bye as he graduated, I got to see my friend who stood by me at the African concert and understood my babbling excitement. We've kept in contact but it was weird to have him on campus. Again, it was like full circle and we were back a year earlier saying good bye to each other as he entered "post-grad world" and I packed up my life for Belgium. His timing was perfect as I was discouraged from a rough semester and honestly, from not having enough time with the love of my life, Jesus. What I appreciated about the conversations we had (though I'm sure he thought/thinks I am depressed) is that they were centered around God and His workings in our lives. I don't know if he was on an encouragement mission but that is what he brought to me. You see, regardless of how this semester was (it was good overall ....just God was teaching me some things), God used it and will continue to use it for his glory. I can rest easy in that. For "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you...." Jeremiah 1:5
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