More than I Could Ask For

My heart has been so full lately. Being back in Chattanooga for more than a few days at a time has been better than I could have asked.

Last Monday, I worked at CVP for the day and got to see all of the CCS sophomore girls that I hadn't seen in what seemed like forever. My heart was overwhelmed with love for these girls and oh, I was just so so happy to see them and literally be tackled by them when they saw me. Then, Allie was jealous that I saw other girls so we had breakfast together on Tuesday morning like the "old days". And in typical Tuesday morning fashion, we ran into Carolann, Elissa, and the GPS girls. It was such a great way to start a long Tuesday morning with hugs from all of those familiar faces.

As I've mentioned in my last few blog posts, I have LOVED my new plus old group of friends of  Cary, Kelly, and Emily. I have spent hours talking and enjoying the doubled-over, can't breath kind of laughter with at least 2 of the 3 girls last Monday, this Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and now Tuesday. Seriously, I cannot get enough with these girls--I feel like we have known each other for years!!

And then on top of all of that, after a lot of thought and some needed time away, I was ready to return to First Pres. It really was a hard decision for several reasons. I really needed to separate myself from the youth group for a while, not because I don't love them dearly, but because I needed to just have a break. I also needed to make sure that I didn't allow myself to keep doing my job that I wasn't getting paid to do...a hard truth I needed to make sure I was spending time with students because I wanted to and not because I needed to. (And please don't think that I ever spent time with students that wasn't out of pure love for them and loved doing so, but I just needed to make sure...if that makes sense.) But after some time away, I was ready to get back to my church and man! was it good! I loved seeing the familiar faces, getting big comfortable hugs, and the genuine excitement in seeing people I haven't seen in a while. And who would have thought, but I missed the organ! haha Well, maybe not missed, but it sure was nice being back in a comfortably uncomfortable pew singing with a full choir out of a hymnal.

And the cherry on top, I got had dinner at the Tinsley's with a group of youth group students. It was so so so much fun and full of laughter thanks to the great company!

So all of this rambling is to say, that no I don't know where my life is taking my right now, but my heart has been so full and overwhelmed with blessings of friends in Chattanooga these past few weeks and it has been just what I wasn't smart enough to pray for myself.