my change of heart

Today was GLORIOUS!
Not just because of the weather… although that was glorious all by itself. It was one of
those rare May days in Texas where the heat doesn’t suck the life out of you, and it was actually cool in the shade.

I was able to help my dear friend Erin move some of her belongings and spend a little time with her, which has been lacking recently with the end of graduate school upon us.

Most of this weekend has been great, although incredibly sad. The graduates in our program returned to Dallas from their externships to receive their AuDs, white coats, and celebrate with friends and family. This was hard, because although the students are not actually IN my class, most of them are close friends. And although I haven’t seen them in several months, we had to say goodbye all over again. But the times that we got to laugh together this weekend were glorious.

Tonight I went to my Community Group, which consists of the most amazing and unique women. Every time we meet, I learn something new about one of them and also something new about myself.
The past several months, I have been so anxious about the logistics of moving that I haven’t spent time with Jesus, which is exactly the time that I need Him. I discovered that I was afraid of spending time with Him and being honest with myself, because I knew that once I allowed myself to ‘feel’ about moving, that my emotions would let loose. And I desperately am trying to avoid this. So this morning, against my instincts, I took that time and allowed myself to ‘feel’. Surprisingly, instead of remaining upset and anxious, I began to have a peace and hopefulness.
When I met with my CG this evening, I was encouraged even more. As Christians, we have this faith in God and in His Plan for our lives. But, there is a difference between living like we believe this, and just believing it. Recently I have been doing the latter. I have been moping about moving, and it IS sad to leave all my friends, it is a GLORIOUS opportunity to make more friends, to experience more of the world, to make more opportunities for Christ to work in my life and others’.
For this reason, I am grateful to the women of my CG for helping me to remember this, and for living their lives as they believe.
And that is why today was glorious.

ahhhhh. (that's an extremely long sigh.)
signaling the end of graduate school - the strictly "school" part anyway, and the beginning of a mad packing/getting things in line time.
i didn't realize how little time i had left in dallas, until last night, when i was reminded repeatedly that i have two weeks left. i think i was in denial a little, b/c in my mind it was three weeks.. but we all know how i'm not really right in the head. :)
but back to the graduate school part... last tuesday i finally realized that all my classmates and i would be separated for this coming year. one of my professors had a get-together at her house where we ate together and got to hang out as a class one last time. here's a little pic of the happy class of 2010.
notice how we all have GIGANTIC grins. the baby in the picture is our little Kerrington Dagley who was born at the end of april to Jessica (in the pink shirt). the only one missing is wonderful Ivonne.. but not to worry, she made it later.

i have to be a girl for a second.. at one point or another, i have seen most of these people cry, and most of them have seen me cry... it was hard; i never expected grad school to be this hard, stressful, or time-consuming. i know that God put our class together for a reason, because i know i wouldn't have made it without my best friend Erin. i would not have made it without the support and help of Erin, Ivonne, Jessica, and Paige. those girls are some hard-working, caring, loyal woman. and i feel blessed to have met them during my grad school.