i finished my classes last week, and have passed with flying colors. i hope to get images up soon so you can see what i've been working on, but be patient with me. i have a way of not doing these things on a good timetable. (ask anyone still waiting to see my australia pictures!) i enjoyed my experience more than i thought i would-- i was pretty apprehensive about being a "Christian-liberal-arts" girl at a "secular-art" school. thankfully, people are people, and if you smile a lot they can't help but smile back at you. i am going to have spectacular laugh lines when i'm old. i don't think, though, that columbia is the right place for me to continue my education after wheaton, based on the kind of academic tracks i would try to fit into. i did, however, make friends with my professors and an academic advisor who might be able to help me find a place, or help me brainstorm ideas about what my path could look like after graduation. i am thankful for these connections and looking forward to a meeting with one such connection next week. (psst...we're looking at grad schools. don't tell.)
i started my internship this week at saatchi-- so far it's been pretty low key. there are at least twice as many people around now than there were this time last year, so the office dynamic is a bit tougher to tap into and i'm spending odd amounts of time doing odd amounts of things. i write this from the internship, if that gives you any idea as to how my time is being spent. an old office friend keeps telling me i look "lost." maybe the look on my face knows something i don't.
around high school graduation, people are quick to quote, or add to their signature in the cards they send, Jeremiah 29:11: "'for I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." this is a message of hope for me people my age everyone, hope that there is something for us to do with life. that we were selected to be where we are for a reason and meaningful purpose. but, something i read today reminded me that that's not the end of that address. it goes on to say:
"then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. you will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
now, if my old testament class served me at all, the last part gets on about how the israelites have been exiled from their home and how the Lord will bring them back, etc., but i still like the way this interprets for my life (and that's about all i can say i have authority to interpret, if i even have that.) i need to be reminded that that plan isn't just for the Lord to cast down a blessing for the future and call it a day, but for me to turn back to Him and continue to seek Him. wholly. and He will find me. i love that. at this stage of my life, even when i'm really not sure what the future holds, i love that this promise holds true. i need to do a better job keeping up my end.
other notices!
a year ago, i was still settling into sydney. this fact is still settling into me.
i saw batman. i am still giddy about it and want to see it again.
i am so thankful for each and every one of you.