I have one more semester of my undergrad study left.

What is it about time that seems to change when something is ending? All of a sudden, when the end can be seen, one freaks out as though time sped to erase things so much faster than we ever could have moved the pencil to write what had happened. Immediately, all the challenges are worth the things that made us smile. And we thank God for what happened, and want nothing to change, just as we were getting used to this thing that used to be a “change” for us.

I think back to my first days at Fall Retreat, and the time I first shook my best friend’s hands. I think about those nights with the laughter, and every single time we climbed those stairs to the 3rd floor. I think about the heartache and the tiredness, and the way our adventures always pushed something great out of each other. I think about how you would never have let me settle for anything less than best, and I think about the beautiful sky that we always saw from up on those cliffs. I think about the snow in that courtyard, and that night that we ran in the dark for hours until we just couldn’t any more. I think about the night we threw each other in the snow for hours until we were so cold that we had to go in the house and watch a movie with hot chocolate. I think about your kindness. Your boldness. Your gentleness. Your ability to change anything. Your eyes of hope. Your smile.

And I think about how thankful I am that years ago, I learned that time will always feel this fast. I thank God that I remember my first steps, and I thank God for the times I fell out of trees and was tackled in football. I thank God for the first fish that I caught, and for the nights of mosquito bites and long hugs. I think about the times we flew our kites until we were sunburned. I think about the nights in the hospital, ready to throw up at any time. And, I think about how I knew then, that it would go fast.

These days, I remember to take it slow. Not that I don’t move with initiative, but I am not wrapped in the days months from now. I think about one day at a time when we will sit up too late and talk about everything and nothing. I think about the way that we’ll grow more in love with God’s Words every day, and how we really will change the world. I think about the wonderful things that we will see, and the nights that will hurt us in compassion. And, I smile. Because time will go fast. And we know this, because we have learned it in these moments in our lives. And I smile, because love makes every day remind us that there is an eternity ahead of us.

I am the second. He is the first. And He is with me even until the end of every age.

Let’s live.

…because love wins.