change seems to be the theme of my life right now. it's not necessarily a bad thing, because i know that in and of itself change is inevitable, but change isn't always easy. at least i'm not the biggest fan of it.

let's see...besides not going back to school this august, there have been a plethora of other changes taking place. i started coaching 8th grade volleyball...i started working full time...i started going to bed earlier...i started drinking coffee every morning...i started to enjoy the drive from wabash to marion in the mornings...i even started appreciating seeing part of the sunrise...i started appreciating spontaneous outtings moreso than ever...i started understanding what it really means to live for the weekends...and did i mention i even started dating someone? (and he's pretty great :) ha.)

but some things haven't changed...most of the things being things i miss; i miss my indian family...i miss mornings in mcconn...i miss random late night chats with friends who just live down the hall...i miss lunch, coffee, and dinner dates...i miss covenant with my fellow RAs...i miss the community at iwu...i miss sleepovers...i miss chapel...i miss being in close proxemity each and every day to my best friend and the list could continue.

but i'm learning to love living in the real world. i truly am blessed beyond all measure. my full time job is actually at the place i had my internship second semester of my senior year at iwu; i came into the job familiar with the program and actually familiar with many of the clients. i work with an amazing group of people, and i rarely leave the office without having a story to share. some days are harder than others depending on the encounters of the day, but i've learned that there always seems to be some hope hidden somewhere in seemingly hopeless situations. and i'm sure that there are going to be many, many more lessons to learn like that in the days ahead.

regardless, now that the brief update on my life is complete, i've had a thought stirring around in my head for quite sometime now. and i'm not entirely sure where it came from or where i saw this at, but i definitely don't take credit for it. so here i go...

you know how when people sign cards, emails, or letters, "God Bless"? I've always thought that was a nice way to sign something when the person didn't know what else to say...maybe it was too formal to write "love" or maybe they wanted to prove the point that they were actually Christians, but awhile ago, i saw someone sign something "Bless God".

interesting concept, really.

as i sat there and pondered on it for awhile, i was though to myself, "hm, it's just like us being selfish humans to ask for God to bless us." and i don't necessarily think that it's always a bad thing, because i think God does want to bless us, but i think that sometimes we forget the importance of blessing God. going about our day, i think, we are often looking for the little blessings God brings acrossed our paths. like a beautiful sunrise, the leaves changing colors, a hug from a dear friend, etc. etc. but how often do we take the time to stop and think, "what can i do to bless God today? what can i do to be a blessing to others for God today; to show others his love and to be his hands and feet?"

so as i end this, i'm going to go ahead and end it with the words that have challenged my thinking more so than i ever could have imagined.

Bless God, today, my friends...Bless God.