Boulder, Intentionality & Purpose

I went up to Boulder this last weekend to celebrate my friend Brooke, both for her birthday and because she's getting married next month. I rode the bus up there (and who really would want to pay these gas prices right now!), and actually got time to look at the scenery (which is gorgeous!) instead of the bumper in front of me. Memories came flooding back to me... and I really only think I have been up to Boulder like a handful of times since my stroke (and with the way my memory works now I can't remember them anyways!) With the music I was listening to on my iPod, it just made for the perfect weekend, to celebrate with Brooke, to stay with Ashlyn, to revisit a place that had been home for so long and that I had weeped over in prayer, where I had hurt so bad for and had so much heartbreak take place in that town and times of really finding out who I was as a young 20 something... Gosh, I sound old and jaded as I write this! ha!

But seriously, this weekend was great, and I think I need to go up to Boulder to hang out for a couple of days to soak in the beauty that surrounds that place and just relish in it when I don't have the demands of a job or school dictating my where-abouts. I think more than anything, that is what I am craving right now in my life. Release from the responsibilities of life. I am 8 days away from my last final exam, and 11 from my commencement, and I'm terrified. I just need a break. I almost had an anxiety attack today about what might lay ahead, and that overwhelms me. I have no idea. The woman who always had a plan has vague inklings of what might be ahead through September, but beyond there, everything is very hazy. That is really scary. I am about to break free from the cocoon of graduate school, which should be the most freeing thing but instead, I am almost paralyzed with fear, and I hate that. I have the amazing opportunity to love on and pour into some amazing men and women in the community I live in, and am very excited to do that more intentionally this summer, and I am planning on volunteering at Craig Hospital and possibly the Ronald McDonald House, and working very part time at the Denver Country Club, so it's not like I am completely without a plan. My plans also include getting to experience hiking and camping in Colorado since I really haven't been able to do that for the last 3.5 years with graduate school. And I'm going to be intentional about spending some quality time with important people that I may not get to see very often when I move back to the Midwest. This summer is going to be all about intentionality and purpose. Hopefully, I can say that about my entire life from here forward.
Love,
Amy Christine