dear chapter meetings

Dear Chapter Meeting,

Thanks for being an excuse to dress up on Mondays.
Thanks for being a homework break.
And thanks for being a reminder of the many blessings in my life.

You were a secret password and handshake, candle passings, and songs.
You were an excuse to hang out with sweet friends, encourage, and be encouraged.

Thanks for being a reason to sing, a reason to pray, and a reason to hoot and chant.
You've filled my 6pm Monday night slots for the past 3 1/2 years and I doubt I'll ever forget you.

Love,

Caitlin

if i don't leave waco...

Image found here

I had a fleeting thought as I drove north on I35 yesterday, "If I don't leave Waco, will the semester have to end?" I've secretly been using the spring semester as a cushion for my future, knowing that even if it was my, ahem, senior year, I still had another semester after the fall. And that's still true today, but saying goodbye to Fall 2009 was hard. And as embarassing as it might be, yes, a few tears were shed in the car on the way home. I can't hide from time or change- just make the most of both. Time marches on, and so must I.

welcome back

God has been teaching me a lot about relationships in the last few months. I have been struck by His goodness, willingness, and desire to restore certain relationships in my life that I had given up on. You yourself may have personally experience a time when for one reason or another, some kind of relationship was severed. It probably wasn't comfortable, it probably wasn't a mutual decision, and it probably left an ache and/or festering somewhere within your heart. Or maybe you just lost touch with someone- simply having drifted in different directions.

Whatever the case, if you ever think a relationship is beyond repair, take heart. If you ever assume that you'll never have a certain relationship again- don't be so sure. God's plan for us is one that involves a continual refining of our hearts and minds so that we become more like Him. And if that refining has anything to do with a past relationship, I think He is going to bring that relationship back to us, in one way or another. Forgiveness and restoration are worth it, anger and resentment are not. Thankful today for my God who gives second chances to relationships.