Those Three Months We Call Summer

Crispness fills the the nights now. The mugginess doesn't last all day and the heat is bearable,unlike a month ago. Breathe in and out.... summer is over, and classes are starting.

--eeek, I love fall.--

After talking myself out of some denial, I think the beginning of the academic year is an exciting time. Yeah, the classes start and so do the lectures and the exams, but its remarkable time of year.

The long drives back to college, the moving back in, all filled with the scary and electrifying newness that also spews with familiarity. Its a mess of feelings. Then how is it remarkable?

Here me out.

Its the people. As a self proclaimed introvert with occasional bursts or extrovert-ness, that statement whelms my comfort zone. As the start of classes draws near, people start trickling into their apartments and dorms, all of them a little different, a little--or a lot-- changed by events in the three months we call summer.

Half of May, June, July, and half August, about three months. Each person is different than they were when they left in May. Too much time stands between then and now for anyone to be the same. Someone went deeper into an addiction, and another was miraculously freed from habit. Someone lost someone they loved, while someone else figured out for the first time that they loved someone else. Someone discovered who they really were and what truly defines them, and someone else chose to stray from the Truth. The stories are infinite, everyone is a reshaped version of themselves-- either for the worse or for the better.

The forces in our world are too strong for people to stay static. We are alive, and we change, either we are moving forward or backward.

My friends that are slowly making their way back down here have all been changed, and that is exciting. I get to rediscover who they are. I get to see what the LORD has done in them-- even if they don't see it yet. I get to ask them what they hope to accomplish this semester and what they are expecting from the LORD.  They get to encourage me with their stories of faith and the faithfulness of God. They get to inspire me with their expectations. We get to fellowship as changed versions of ourselves. We prove that in three months we didn't lose ourselves, we just became more of who we are.

On the other side of the spectrum. There are those who I don't know, who are also spilling into this college town. Those who back in May were bitter and not ready to hear God's beautiful booming voice, but now they LORD has shifted something and they are ready to receive.

All those people will soon be here. All of us living in a 5 mile radius. All of us different, some of us unaware, others fully aware. In the 5 mile circle that extends from the quad, is a  student body different than ever before. I must now step out with that truth in mind. I must know what that means for me as a Christ lover.

I sit here a about a week before school starts ready to burst with anticipation for the next five months. I am ready to acknowledge and learn from the path that got me here, embrace the now, and be willing for the future, in Jesus Name.



**special thanks to my good friend and awesome co-worker Ally who is probably unaware that she played a big part in this post.