a season of grace

my junior year of college, i spent the fall semester in seward, nebraska. while there, i was blessed to know some of the most amazing people in my life. that short amount of time, my life was changed in so many ways. i was able to rest. i was able to grow. i was able to laugh and cry and be loved all the same. i don't think the people there ever really realized the impact they had on my life. when i did decide to go back to austin, i wasn't sure how to tell people or what to say or how to say goodbye. so i wrote this and gave to the people who had changed me...

To my Seward family,

I'll try to put into words the way I feel...

I came to this place
Not sure what to expect
Tears of "Why am I here?"
Have become "Why am I going?"

You've been Christ to me
In ways I can't explain
The love, the grace
Overflows from your face
The hugs, the prayer
Ways you show you care

Friends come for a minute
Or a lifetime or a season
You've been my season of grace
When I needed it the most
I probably won't keep in touch
Like I want to or should

But know you have played
A part in who I am today
Thank you does not begin
To express the cries of my heart

I praise God for you
Because you are you
Beautiful...

last monday, i found out that one of those beauties had left earth to be with our heavenly Father. bobby maessen was a friend of grace. a beautiful man of God who loved people passionately. he offered me so much encouragement and love that words cannot express the loss. this past year we would talk about how all the cool kids would be going to sem in the fall and all the neat things we would do: go dancing, read ragamuffin gospel for the hundredth time, see his pics from india and talk about missions. so many plans, now that have to wait more than just a couple months. st. louis won't be the same next year, but i still look forward to doing all those things. now i just have to wait until heaven.

thank you bobby for your grace and being in my life for a beautiful season...