On Cocoa and Windstorms

This week has been relaxing, yet so busy all at the same time. The days seem to drag by and it is increasingly difficult for me to roll out of bed in the mornings. But there are things each day that keep me going. Like the peace of knowing that when I get into bed at night, Anna will be in her bunk above me and we can talk about our days. Or the fact that I can make a cup of hot chocolate and stare out the window as the wind blows away the final spots of orange and red off the trees. I am able to sit on our uncomfortable couch and feel the cocoa slither down my throat and not be swept away by the blustery day. These moments with cocoa and windstorms mirror my feelings about school right now.

Things have piled up and I've got more to do in the next two weeks than I have all quarter. But four of those days will be spent at home with relaxation and the company of good friends. I got a terrible grade on a biology exam, but I also got an A on an essay in Christian Scriptures. Things are never all bad and I am grateful for that. God has a way of mixing the cocoa with the windstorms and letting me remain in peace. Even when things feel like they're all going terribly, there are constantly reassurances that they're not. At work yesterday, there were moments when I just wanted to be in bed, but by the end of my shift, we were eating brie cheese on a giant flat of focaccia bread...now what could possibly be bad about that?

There is also no group service tonight, so I have mysteriously had fifteen extra hours of free time and I've been able to spend time with friends. They are wonderful friends who are sometimes frustrated with the fact that I am gone so often, but they are still encouraging and bear with me when I drive them crazy. It has been a joy the past three days to be able to sit in our room and laugh and do homework and simply be together. No, it's not much, but it's so beautiful to be in their company and I have learned this week not to take it for granted.

This post was nothing big, but I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks to God for bringing good with the bad and not leaving me in the dark. Thanks to the winter weather for keeping me cozied up inside. And thanks to my friends for loving me, even when life gets us all down.