The Lord Bless You and Keep You...

"The Lord said to Moses, Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.' So they will put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them. (Numbers 6:24)

The reason I started with this verse is because Captain used it in chapel today. Because it is one of our last chapels of the semester, Captain used it kind of as the "closing words" chapel. I honestly have to say that at the opening chapel in January when he said the semester would fly by, I thought to myself, "They always say that. Four months is a long time." It was almost a surreal experience sitting there today, hearing his words of closure and his constant reference to "been."
"This HAS BEEN a great semester." "We HAVE GOTTEN close." "We HAVE LEARNED a lot." "You will LOOK BACK on our travels." People say when I get back this will all seem like a dream, but it already feels that way. It was such a smooth transition from curiosity and fear to complete comfort and instant friendships-- even my early trials seem far away. God blessed me with good health for the remainder of my stay here.

After he got done recapping the semester, he wanted to share his blessing with us-- the blessing he read to his son and daughter before they were married. Many people teared up as he blessed us in the way God blessed the Israelites except he replaced Israelites with "HUGGERS 2008" at the end. It was at that moment that it hit me that we will soon be going our separate ways. Things will never be the same. Though I am usually very hesitant to change, I have recently realized that it is inevitable. I, instead, focus on the fact that God places different people in your life at different times for a purpose. They all come and go, some stay-- but it is not necessary to mourn when your relationship evolves or maybe even disappears with time. I know that some of us will stay close and some of us will see each other only from time to time, while others of us will only meet again at reunions. I am going to work with God on being OK with that. I will always look back and see how each person here blessed me in some way. Captain said that the change in you isn't always drastic and immediate, but that eventually you will see how you were molded from this experience. I am excited to get home and see the ways in which God has used this semester to enrich my life. I know that this semester has broadened my horizons and enriched my soul. I have an outlook that reaches out past Paragould, Arkansas and that in itself is growth; it is my firm belief that anytime God gets you out of your comfort zone, change can't help but result.

I've heard that small blessing my whole life, but for some reason it provided me with comfort today. Though we will be going in all directions, the Lord has promised to keep us in his care-- and that in itself makes the separation easier. Ben said that his mom used to always share that blessing with him in high school and that he always just let it run through one ear and out the other; after hearing him talk about that, I know his appreciation for that love will be strengthened. I think, if nothing else, we have learned not to take things for granted anymore.

This isn't my closing blog entry, but I just wanted to thank all of you for your continued support. For those of you who helped me financially, I hope that I have made it apparent to you how worth it that sacrifice was. Thanks to those who read, who commented and I can't wait to talk to you about it when I get home. :-)

P.S. Yes, the blog template ADD kicked in again. Like the clean, slick look better?