#ECmeetsUP

today, i am sad.
but the best kind of sad.  the kind of sad you feel because you love something so much that it feels impossible to leave it behind.  the kind of sad that, like i'm learning from my dear friend isaac, is an honor to feel because it means i was given such a gift to be so reconciled to the people around me.  a hard gift, as he says.
but it might be hard for a while.  i went running today and every few minutes, the tears came strong and then stopped, but came strong again after a few minutes.  saying goodbye to some of the people who mean the world to me is not my favorite thing.

i came back yesterday from a week with my buddies in the upper peninsula of michigan at cedar campus, intervarsity's retreat center; a meeting place with God.  and oh boy, did He meet us.  the best last week that i could have asked for with this community that means more to me than just about anything.

^ in the woods with my friends and those mossy tree trunks? para-para-paradise. ^

in case you were wondering if it gets any lovelier, it doesn't. this is one of my favorite pics! ^^

^ mahh friendssss!! ^

(insert this song here) also, lol at that music video (;

i took this while walking back to the main lodge with mckenzie and i know you can't see much in it, but i just love it.  a moment in time, walking with her, that i wanted to remember.

it's cool to look back at myself in the same place.  cedar campus has become so dear to me because i have encountered God in multiple ways throughout my college experience there.  i went freshman year, sophomore year, was there for a month of IVLI, and now returned as a graduated senior.  thanks, God, for this thin space.  a place that represents rest, safety, joy... a place where Your name is called upon often and where generations of hallelujahs have been uttered.