grief, wonderful friends, and heaven

it's hitting me. slowly but surely. the students are gone. and life in minneapolis is really weird without them here. today was a hard day. i don't want to make it sound like they're dead or something, but i feel like i have lost so many of my closest friends. some of them are coming back, but still... they aren't here now.

i found myself in a pitiful place today. i didn't want to go out and have fun because none of the students would be there. i didn't even want to laugh because it wasn't one of them making me laugh, or because they weren't there to enjoy it with me.

times like these are when i need to remind myself that God has been so gracious to give me a year like this, so full of incredible people and experiences, and thank him for the precious time i had.

also, i continue reminding myself of heaven. [interjection: the idea of heaven is so incredible! sometimes, i can't even believe that i will actually get to spend eternity with God and all of his people. he is so good!!] because these students are lovers of Jesus, i get to spend the rest of eternity with them! [interjection #2: something i have noticed and experienced this year is the sweetness of relationships that have Christ as the foundation. i have never witnessed a more incredible bond than all of the students had with each other this year. this was without doubt because Christ was the foundation and what brought all of them together. this kind of true, sweet fellowship is a wonderful thing!] how cool is that? and this lifetime is so short. so, even though i do miss them now, i won't have to miss them forever!

one thing that helped me get through some of the goodbyes was thinking of it as 'see you later' not 'goodbye.' knowing that the girls downstairs (anna, kat, and emily) would be back in a few weeks made the parting more bearable. in light of heaven, though, every goodbye, for believers is a see you later, whether on earth or in heaven. that is so sweet!

i'm feeling a bit better now. God is so gracious to make a way for us to live with him and his people forever.