Any Sweeter

(If it gets any sweeter than this, I don't want to know.)

.Last night, some friends and I camped out in a classroom with crayons, paper, blankets and Adventures in Odyssey. I felt like I was eight again.
.We sat quietly outside in the breeze, soaking in the night air.
.Taylor brought ice cream sandwiches, just like a mom would have.
.We talked about Calvin and Hobbes, Crime and Punishment, little siblings and summertime.
.After turning in my rough draft on Raskolnikov, humility and love, I spent most of my evening rehearsing the end of the novel in my head, enjoying over and over again the beauty of grace and redemption. I thought about carrying my book around with me everywhere so that I could read those last five pages every hour.

.This morning, Eric and I biked four and a half miles through intermittent rain to a little coffee shop called Marcella's.
.We are spread out over two tables, with Latin books, Bibles and notes piled next to us.
.There is a glass of milk next to each of us, and pretty soon there will be omelets there too.
.Today is going to be good, I can tell.

This week, I felt the weight of responsibility, the weight of school, the weight of the needy people around me, and through all of it, I felt the infinitely stronger weight of the cross and of grace. I was constrained to God's mercy, and I could feel it.

Fear not, O land;
Be glad and rejoice.
For the Lord has done great things!
(Joel 2:21)

God is good.