Encouragement is of the essence

This weekend (Thursday-Sunday) I went back home to Orlando (I know, I know, very soon after I moved) to get the rest of my things (desk, and other miscellaneous stuff that I was bound to forget, ((sorry for all the parentheses))), attend the Kris Wise- Sarah Robles wedding, have a meeting as part of my candidacy process with the Staff Parish Relations Committee at St. Luke's, and say goodbye again to my friends.

It is actually a relief to have everything I need for my room and apartment, so getting the things I left behind was good!

The wedding was unlike any other I had ever been to, I am very pleased with how it went and it seemed like the families really understood how a wedding should go. It was very special, and Christ was definitely at the center of the ceremony, and that was a blessing. It was fun, delicious (Asian food and two cakes!), and just very special. I was thankful to attend and witness such a beautiful night for them and be their with my friends.

Seeing friends and saying goodbye again was definitely bittersweet, but I was thankful for it. I am very excited to keep in touch and still be a part of my friends' lives and having them be a part of mine. That is important to me. It is a way I want to grow, to be able to let these friendships live out, even if distance and not spending time in person with them makes it difficult. I got to celebrate another friend leaving Florida, Shannon McDonald, to go teach in Korea.  We had Asian food and played "Just Dance", and it was a fun night to send her off and say goodbye to her! It is very encouraging to see others in my circle of friends leave to fulfill God's call and feel in the same boat as them. I have friends from Orlando going to Ireland, Korea and seminary like me, and I look to them and what they are doing for encouragement and as examples of following Jesus.

I realize now, again, how important the encouragement and support I receive, both authoritative from my local church, specifically, and relationally from my friends and family, is to me. It feeds me and builds me up. Without it, I don't think I could be strong enough to do anything I am doing. It is key to my journey, and I do believe that God intends it to be that way. It is easy to think that because I need that so much, that it's a sign of weakness, but it just isn't.