The long of it:

I'm loving my job. I'm loving my coworkers and my desk. I'm loving the anticipation that comes when boxes come laden with piles and piles of papers on which my labor has been inked. I'm loving the sketchbook I carry with me everywhere and how small doodles birth a finished product.

When you live with three amazing girls, it's easy to just call them community and home, and I do. Gladly. But I'm also finally making real friends here and I love that. I love the conversations that I'm having, the mutual encouragement, the smile from across Starbucks, the random text message, a good, authentic hug. I love relationships and I love that God is being gracious to me with that.

I'm going home for two weeks in October. Somehow these two weeks will fall on what we call peak season in the northeast--the colors of the leaves are the most vibrant and the air is most crisp. I plan on smuggling apples on my way back here. Nobody is going to stop me. How about them apples?

I'm leading two small groups at my church. A bit foolish, I know, so I'm grateful for the blessings of co-leaders and good discussions to look forward to. I find myself easily depleted, so I'm just grabbing hold of living by the Spirit this fall. Every day is another opportunity to exercise life in the Spirit. Nothing is beyond the Helper.

My best and favorite person is getting married while I'm home. I worked on her invitations this summer and now I'm working on the wedding flowers--these are two things I LOVE doing and can mostly do from here, and so I gladly do! I think that we're going to be hunting for the bridesmaid bouquets from the woods around us when I go home and this makes me so very happy.

The short of it:

Loving this song again this week.

Celebrating exactly a year since I arrived in Texas with no plan at all.

Loving this passage.

Missing my long hair.

Resting in this truth.

Missing them play in Fort Worth by one day.