Not Goodbye, Just See Ya Later.

The past week and a half has probably been the busiest, craziest, but one of the most exciting times of my life. It has been filled with classes, work, events with The Rock, and time with all of these cuties... And MORE.

I have been extremely busy. In a good way, but still busy. Which leads me to what I really want to talk about.

So, during my time at LT, I felt like I was learning a lot about time management. I was working a lot and had to try and balance everything that was constantly going on at the Y, all while making sure that God is #1 in my life. I'm so thankful for this time because it has already been helping me a lot this semester. HOWEVER, there is still never enough time in the day to do everything I want to do, which is why I have decided to do a social media fast for the month of September.

But why?
I have realized how much of my time it consumes... Really. We don't have WiFi at our house, so it's not as much of a problem there, but I still have it on my phone everywhere I go. I want to commit a good portion of time to this so that it hopefully has some sort of lasting effect, so September it is!

What is this going to look like?
Saturday night I will be deactivating my Facebook and Twitter. I will also be deleting the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Blogger apps from my iPhone. Because of class and work I clearly can't give up my email, but basically everything else has to go! I will be back in a month!

How can you get ahold of me?
I'm really not trying to block people out of my life, I promise. Haha. I will still be available to call or text at any time of the day! I like mail too :)

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Anyways, I'm excited for this. I think it will be a challenge, but I really do believe that it will be worth it. I'm excited to be away from all of those distractions and fully be able to focus on more important things. This will be my last blog post for a while! It's been real, folks.




Anna

Until We Meet Again, Colorado.

This past week has been one of the most bittersweet of my entire life.

Here's why:

It has been such a challenging summer. There have been many evenings that all I wanted to do was drive back to Columbia, back to Ash Grove, back to Missouri. Something about "home" just sounded comforting. Easy, really.

At the end of it all though, I wouldn't change a single thing. I have been pushed in ways I never would have been without this experience. I have been challenged. I have been tested. Most of all, I have met God this summer. I knew Him before, but all of this time has made it especially special. So with all of this mind, I have to just reiterate myself: I wouldn't change a single thing. I wouldn't change a thing because I know that He has been working. I know that He has been, and still is, shaping me into a stronger, more faithful woman.

I have been incredibly sad to leave some of the friends I have made this summer. My project group, my coworkers, other fellow LTers... God truly blessed me with a pretty awesome community in Estes Park. I never would have imagined myself feeling this way about people I have knew for such a short time, but I will really miss all of them. I am pretty sad about it, but I am comforted because I know that I will have some great memories to hold onto until we meet again.

So it's bittersweet because it's sad, but goodness, I have so much to look forward to. There are so many great things planned for this fall semester. I just know it. I am excited to start my new job. I am excited to be back  and fully invested in the church that I really found God in. I am excited for fall outreach. I am excited for my classes. I am really excited to see how God moves through our church, through our community group, and through my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ this fall. I'm just excited, alright? Haha. I know that being back in Columbia wont mean that I'm free of challenges. I think that's okay. I hope after this summer, that it will be easier to remember that we aren't put through trials for nothing. He can use anything for good.

Being back in Columbia is so many things. It's comforting, it's familiar, it's warm, it's good. So far, it's everything I wanted it to be, but nothing will ever be quite the same as the summer that changed my life in Estes Park, Colorado.

And until we meet again, Colorado, I'll hold onto these: