God tweets too.

It still feels completely unreal for me to think that next week at this time I will be laying in bed, sleeping, in Ireland. A week from this moment it will not be 12:15 at night, but 6:15 in the morning. As of Tuesday when I wake up on a plane above Ireland, I will be living in an almost too good to be true, picture perfect place. Even after stating, writing, talking about, and processing that I only have 3 days left here in Arkansas it still doesn't seem a tinny, tiny bit real that the time has almost come to be in Ireland. Not at all.

Every morning I still wake up with an overwhelming amount of emotions, thoughts, and expectations. My thoughts literally go from one extreme to another... most days I wakeup and think about how blessed and excited I am that I get to go to Ireland for 3 months, but I'm not going to lie and say that I haven't thought to myself "why in the world did I sign up for this." Normally following that thought is me arguing with myself about the pros and cons. Productive huh? But really, what a huge waste of time.

Most people who know me really well are well aware that among my favorite things are movies, the show Friends, Instagram, and also Twitter. My friends and family also know that I am not what you call a morning person. To "cure" my morning crankiness, I lay in bed and catch up with Twitter. Every morning. There are always the funny tweets, the tweets where you think to yourself "no one cares to know that", and then the tweets that actually matter. Twitter is all about other people sharing what they think is important even if sometimes we don't actually care about what they are tweeting. It's easy to keep up with those who matter to us. I love Twitter for this very reason.

While laying in bed a couple of days ago, I, like usual, opened the Twitter app on my iPhone and began reading tweets. A couple tweet really stuck out to me. It was like God was tweeting exactly what I needed to read. To remember it and how perfectly it fit my situation I took screen shots...

So simply put, but all of my mixed emotions and expectations of Ireland were almost instantly put to ease because I realized how unnecessary they were. It was just another reminder of how great our God is. Not only am I reminded that He will be there for me every step of my journey, but I also hope that through this experience my relationship can grow with Him. The tweet reminded me why I am going to Ireland and that it is exactly where He wants me to be this semester. This semester doesn't include a whole lot that is predicable, but because of that I am required to trust in Him. Though leaving my safe life style is difficult and out of my comfort zone, He is constantly reminding me that He is going to Ireland too. What a comfort.

3 days (:

Be where I am.

There are so many things about these next few months that are hard for me to believe are actually reality. To start, I'm a Junior in college. It feels like just yesterday I was receiving a diploma in front of family and friends. I feel like I just started the count down of how many days I had till I moved into my Freshman dorm. It is incredible how fast things can change. Now I'm not only half way done with college, but I am counting down the days till I leave for Ireland. 11 days. 11 days till I spend a semester in Ireland. 11 days till I leave my comfort zone.

As my time here in Arkansas grows shorter, I can't help but to think about the changes that come with this semester. It is easy for me to immediately come to the conclusion that nothing will be the same as I left it when I arrive back to JBU after Christmas break. I love my campus and the people that fill it. I like things the way they are and don't want to come back to a school that feels completely different. I don't want to focus on what I am missing on campus while I'm gone. I think about the great conversations and memories that I could have had with my family and friends if I stayed in Arkansas this semester. At the same time, though, I can't and won't expect people to sit still and wait for me to return before they return to their daily lives. Times like this are when I wish I had a life remote so I could hit pause after I said my goodbyes and hit play when I return. I know that remotes like this don't exist and probably never will which is, honestly, a good thing. The word that comes to mind when I think about having a life remote is "control." Control is something that, as humans, we like to think we have but in reality God is the only One who is in control. He is the One who's plan actually matters unlike ours. Our plans only matter when they aline with His plan. He has a plan for what is going to come of my semester in Ireland as well as when I return to campus in the spring. When I make plans for my life and predict what could happen in the future I am not trusting in God to do what is best for my life and therefore sinning.

Since I'm not able to hit pause before I leave, I am left with a choice: to be where I am and enjoy every minute of it or to be focused on where I am not and can not be. I've come to the conclusion that it is completely okay for me to miss being on campus, but not to the point where I can't enjoy where I am. It becomes difficult to live in the way we should if we are focused on somewhere we aren't.

The thought of getting on a airplane in 11 days to go to a place that is completely foreign to me is in many ways exciting, but also scary at the same time. I know that God has something incredible planned for the time I spend in Ireland. I still am feeling lots of mixed emotions, but I am confident that Ireland is where he wants me to be this semester which couldn't be more comforting to know.

Let the packing begin!