Speeding through

SO many things will be changing here in the next little bit. Finals are coming up next week and then after that we leave. I really hate thinking about it. I don't appreciate change but I know it's inevitable. I was mentioning to my friend the other day that change really stinks. I try to imagine the future, the near and the far, and I have to keep telling myself that good things will happen but it's hard to imagine anything better when you've already got it good. Be grateful in the moment and embrace what I have now. Be flexible with change. Change can be good. All things I have to tell myself.

Tender Mercies

There are so many tender mercies that occur, but the real question is....do we see and recognize them? Something I've been thinking about a lot lately is the scripture James 1:17. It says,
 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." I really love this scripture. If you think about it, it's all about recognizing tender mercies. I came across this video and it explains what a tender mercy is. I really couldn't have worded it better myself. You'll just have to watch it.

The Lord loves us and is mindful of us. He gives us these tender mercies to show us that He doesn't forget about us and He knows us. An example of one I had recently recognized is that I was going to have a super busy Wednesday. There weren't enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I had to do. I knew that the day could end with me being frazzled. Instead, it wasn't so bad. I was about to head to my class and low and behold, the class was canceled. I was able to use that time to refocus on what was priority and able to get a small break from the rest of my crazy day. I know the Lord knew I needed that break. It was no coincidence. Tender mercies are incredible.

Spring Break

I had a great spring break. It's really an understatement just saying that. It was fantastic! Not to mention this that I am talking about was only half of my great break. Wednesday night I couldn't sleep. It felt a lot like the day before the first day of school or the night before Christmas morning. I was so excited. Thursday morning I woke up and shortly after, B and K came and picked me up and we headed to Riverton. We met up with M and S there. We went to S's grandparents house and his grandpa was so kind in letting us use his four-wheelers. We made a quick breakfast and to make a long story short, we headed to our camping spot in San Rafael. We set up camp and we four-wheeled for as long as we could. Unfortunately the weather wasn't in our favor that night and coming back was quite an adventure. It started raining and eventually it got to snowing. We were all soaking and as the hale hit our face it stung pretty bad. M rode with S, K rode with B, and I rode with P. We got back and it held off a little bit but we all congregated to the truck. We were really wet. It was getting dark and no one wanted to leave the warm truck. Eventually we got out and built a fire and ate hot dogs. That night it way still raining and we slept in the tent. The wind was blowing real hard. A lot of the things we slept with were wet and prior to it raining and us heading to bed we held it next to the fire to get things dry. The next day we ate breakfast and we four-wheeled most of the day. The scenery was incredible. Not only is P such a great driver but he was also very kind and patient with me when I drove. He taught me so much. We went to some cool places and the weather was so much better. That night we made dutch oven potatoes which are sooo good. We also ate smores. That night S and P slept on their cots and M and I were in the bed of the truck. It was cold but so worth it. The next morning we watched the sun come up and that was an adventure all by itself. But then the trip was over. Man, I wish it could have been a lot longer. We took a ton of pictures but this is the single picture I have access to.