And Now It's Monday

Long weekends often become to short when class becomes a huge component of your time. It's all good though, Braxton is endearing enough and my classmates amusing enough that time isn't too much of an issue. Oh, and on my lunch break I picked up a bag of this stuff and that made life that much more enjoyable. We sat in class watching the snow fall outside and checking the scores occasionally only to erupt in sheer joy and shock when this happened, although it really wouldn't be great if Vanderbilt ends up getting fined $25,000 for the students' display of excitement over the win. Oh well, probably won't put too much of a hurting on anyone's pockets around here.

So, it was a good weekend and not just because I made it through class but because I had a chance to relax for the first time in a week - took a trip out to REI to pick up my harness, enjoyed a quiet, snowy evening at Casey and Sara's playing Canasta, eating appetizer food that was originally meant for our Engagment Party which was cancelled due to the weather, and woke up for sunday school and church the next morning to a bright sunny day. I'm glad to be back in the swing of things at church, too. Cliff and I had kind of lost a connection point there, aside from our small group of friends and going to service, because of distance and and transition. We'd moved on from our old sunday school class (post-high/college) which has dissolved now anyways because of the NextGen ministry at TPC, and we didn't really know what to do next. If we're not doing anything more at church than going to service, instead of going to a class, serving, etc. then there's really no point to keep going.

However, we started visiting the Nearly/Newlyweds class and are really excited about a new community to be apart of. There's mostly married couples in there, but everyone's pretty young (mid twenties to early thirties) and are all very insightful, not just about scriptures about about marriage and relationships. They're just great and an incredible resource for our new season in life, and it seems like they all have a lot of fun together. Needless to say, we're looking forward to spending more time with our new class.

Yesterday we spent some time outdoors, which really was fantastic. We drove about forty minutes up to Clarksville to do some climbing out at King's Bluff which is just this incredible area with lots of routes overlooking the Cumberland River. I did two 5.8s yesterday - "Anchor Away" and "Community Effort" - and they were both pretty rough; I've never climbed on limestone before (I've only ever climbed outside once, remember, and it was granite) and it's just a whole different type of rock. It hurts a lot more and was definitely colder yesterday, even with the warmth of the day. I made it to the top of both though (with my climbing partners' coaching, of course), so that was nice. Aaron forgot to take pictures of me while I was climbing, but I have a couple of shots from the day that I will put up on my flickr account soon.

I look forward to weekends like you wouldn't believe, these days. Work is really cumbersome right now, which is why I don't do much but communicate by e-mail. So, that gets kind of old, I know, but it seems the last thing I want to do when I walk out of my office doors is answer a ringing phone. The quiet is so peaceful, as are the beautiful days we should be having the next week.

So, that's something to look forward to.
(Did I also mention I'm looking forward to spring break in two weeks?)

A New Hobby and New Perspective

So I've taken up a new hobby. Yeah, that's right, it's pretty amazing. I've climbed a few rock walls in my lifetime - a youth camp here, a visit to Belmont's student center there. But nothing compares to making climbing more than just an occasional time-killer or mini-adventure. And I think, well, I think that I'm on my way...

Aaron, Cliff's roommate and best friend, has been an avid climber for quite some time, transferred the bug on to Cliff and you can probably imagine what happened after that. I couldn't understand, at first, the necessity to invest in good gear or spend hours at the climbing gym. After my first climb outdoors, though, at Leda in Soddy Daisy, TN (just outside of Chattanooga) it was on, as we like to say, "like Donkey Kong." I have a harness in the mail and will be shopping for shoes in just a few days. But it's more than the gear, despite how much I absolutely love to buy and own great outdoor gear. Climbing is this thing, even more so than hiking I think, that is absolutely challenging, both mentally and physically in an addictive sort of way. I spent two and a half hours at Climb Nashville last night, and started my first try at bouldering. They call bouldering routes "problems" and I can see why now. No lie, the image of those red taped routes are stuck in my head and I can't stop thinking about how I'm going to make the last one the next time I go, that way I can logically move on to the white-taped routes.

I only actually harness climbed one route successfully last night, my arms and legs and body were really spent from the time spent bouldering. Aaron spent some time showing me how to use a Grigri to belay Cliff so that when he heads out in May, Cliff and I will be able to go out together and I won't let Cliff fall to his death. Yeah, that'd not be good.

Anyways, climbing is amazing and I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time doing it. Each new outdoor activity I take on makes me feel that much more alive, not just in an adrenaline sort of way, but spiritually too. Even in church on Sunday, we were singing Chris Tomlin's "How Can I Keep From Singing?" and there's this line about "holding onto the rock I cling to" that really makes sense to me now, even after just one afternoon spent on the side of an overhang.

I sometimes finding myself looking at God the way I used to look at cliff faces - large, inanimate, cold, and unwelcoming to human's. On the flip side of that, I am remembering how to look at God the way I've started to look at those very same walls; I see crags and holds, learn to trust the integrity of the stone (especially if it's granite), and notice the way the rock can sometimes hold me when I am running out of strength to hold onto it myself. It's an amazing thing, really - you should check it out for yourself sometime.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)

A New Year Begins

We're nine days into the new year, and I can hardly believe it. I can hardly believe all that has taken place, too, in just month's time since I last wrote. The semester ended and I finished with all A's, Cliff and I went out to Park City and had a great time skiing and hanging out with Aaron (you can look at the pictures on my Flickr account if you'd like), I travelled home and spent much needed time with the family, celebrated the start of 2007 over the course of a few days with Casey and Sara, went for an overnight hike up to Big Frog Mountain and got engaged at the summit, celebrated with family, got my wisdom teeth taken out, and have spent the last two days recovering and lounging around Cliff and Aaron's new dorm-like apartment in Nashville.

Class starts tomorrow night, Belmont's Homecoming is Friday night, and life is only bound to get busier from here on out, with work, school, life, and a July 21, 2007 wedding to plan for. I can't complain though, especially when I am reminded of God's faithfulness and His sustaining care. I wrote today in my paper journal about the hope that this year would be one not bound by calendars and clocks, nor carelessly lived with no regard for others and for what is taking place beyond my own little world (no matter how exciting and consuming it may be sometimes). I am excited for what is to come, realizing that everything takes time and that most things turn out best when I am least in control.

I have been so blessed, truly. This year will be challenging and yet so rewarding as I venture into a new stage of life, of love, and of commitment - as I join with my family in preparing for an event that will start a lifetime of adventure, struggle, and joy with my partner in crime. We sat at the top of Big Frog just six days ago, with the sun setting behind us and the full moon rising in front of us, and I said yes a thousand times over to a question I had only ever dreamed of being asked. But I was and I am more thankful, I believe, than I let on sometimes... thankful to God's bringing us together and preparing a path for us to walk down together.