Eight States & Seven Flights

Well after a very busy and chaotic four weeks, life is beginning to get back to normal and I'm back blogging again! Since I last blogged, lots has happened, but I won't bore you all with the details of everything...

I have completed my first semester of college! I finished finals and made the long journey home to the East Coast on the 17th. Only to learn the night before from a phone call from home that my great-grandmother, Memommy Simmons passed away. So with great sadness and an unexpected trip to Pineville, Louisiana we celebrated her life with our family. It was a good time to reunite with cousins I hadn't seen since I was little as well as some I was meeting for the first time!

After the funeral, we flew back to Maryland to celebrate Christmas at Mema's house. It was good to finally be able to relax, get caught up on some sleep and have some more great food! My Uncle Jim, Aunt Liz and cousins, Erin, Katie and Anna flew in from Dallas and we spent this last week with them. The week included being lazy, shopping, a family outing to the movies to see "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Christmas Eve service at the Washington National Cathedral and sightseeing in DC including the FDR Memorial, WWII Memorial and the Smithsonian Museum of American History. It was a good week...

But now, I'm finally home! I have figured out by the time I return to school in a week, I will have been in a total of eight states, traveled on seven flights and slept in three different time zones! It's good to be back and wrap up my break from school with this next week here at home. I'm reflecting today on the year that has passed and looking forward to the year ahead. God has done and continues to do great things; opening my eyes to the world around me that is so desperate for His love and showing me new ways I can be His hands and feet to those in need. I'm eager and excited to see what He does in my life and those around me in the year ahead...