5 minutes

Confession: I just set a timer for 5 minutes, typed out my response to today's reverb 10 challenge, selected all of it, and hit the backspace button.

Some days my creative juices are lacking... but the reality of my starting over on this one is that it wasn't interesting to anyone including me so I'm taking another stab at this with a whole different approach. Take two!

the question: Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.

a piece of the answer:
This has legitimately been a fantastic year and I cannot believe the expanse it has traveled. Just about a year ago today I sat in this very same room in my parents house a completely different person. I marveled a few weeks ago with my precious friend Jeremy about how far the Lord can bring us when we hand our lives and our plans over to him and I find that to be even more true as I look backwards over the year.

January first started me off in a friend's tiny hometown, unsure of what in the world the Lord was beginning to do in my life. The second semester of my sophomore year of college was nothing short of beautiful-- full of love and adventures, great friends and greater memories. I fought my way through dinner theater, spent many afternoons soaking in the joys of 3 east, and applied on a leap of faith to work at camp. I'll always cherish Monday nights with the girls and the odd Sunday afternoons I found myself laughing while feeding chickens... I tried to run from the Lord and apply for a leadership position that wasn't me and watched Him reign victorious, always a step ahead of me. I went for lots of walks on campus, had a snowball fight in south Georgia, and came to appreciate my family in a whole new light. Graduation that year is a special memory for me and as the school year came to close I cried tears of joy and terror at what I somehow knew I was leaving behind as I headed home.

I went to the beach... that was nice.

And then there was summer. I'll never forget the night on the phone when I told someone "I don't think I can do this... I just don't think camp is for me." My how wrong I was. Now, I could write a novel about the kids and what the Lord taught me about his strength and the unity among our staff this summer, but I'll sum it up by saying this: it was a life changing experience. I dream about it every single day, without fail, and no summer will ever compare to the love experienced with CK1. There were plenty of laughs, sleepless nights, broken down trucks, and pinatas. We cried together, ran together, screamed, sang, and served. It was the most amazing 20th birthday I could ask for and the hardest thing to send people of down the terminal in August... but life had to go on.

Then there was this semester, the last piece of my puzzle for the year. I built some amazing new friendships, I saw the Lord move through women's ministry, I conquered the impossible and tasted redemption. What do I want to always remember? What had the greatest impact? I could write a list of names instead of events. I got a job as AD, traveled the country, fell in love with my major, and remembered the beauty of prayer. I went rafting, saw a BB King concert, got involved with a new church, stayed in the sketchiest hotel of my life, got to serve alongside a great friend, and spoke for the first time in a public ministry setting. I went to a beautiful wedding, remembered how deeply I love my roommates, and a dumpster cat ate the pizza off my front porch. It's been a whirlwind.

Coming home for Christmas break tonight, my life looks a whole lot different than it did a year ago... not better or worse, just different. I'm marveled at where the Lord has brought me and anxious to reassess this again a year from now. Who knows what could happen...

I might have exceeded my 5 minutes. eh, oh well.

just a thought. :)