For Good.

(A.S. team at Talbot Baccalaureate)

After a weekend of graduation celebrations, the song, "For Good" from Wicked comes to mind as I know the friendships of this past year have been so influential in my life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQJaZO2nfGg

(Elphaba):
I'm limited
Just look at me - I'm limited
And just look at you
You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda
So now it's up to you
For both of us - now it's up to you...

(Glinda):
I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba):
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made from what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you


[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/for-good-lyrics-wicked.html ]

(Glinda):
Because I knew you

(Both):
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba):
And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for

(Glinda):
But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share

(Both):
And none of it seems to matter anymore

(Glinda):
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood

(Elphaba):
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood

(Both):
Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better

(Glinda):
And because I knew you...

(Elphaba):
Because I knew you...

(Both):
Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good...

Congratulations to the Talbot Class of 2011. I will miss you very much!

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

(Picture from http://theblissfulpixel.com/blog2/page/2/)

A wedding.

A dance party.

A bridal shower.

A graduation.

Times of celebration. These are the moments when I realize that despite all the hardships and pain in life, there are also such great times of joy and laughter. I love being able to celebrate the good moments in life and I am thankful for these times of fun :)

I love being able to dance without inhibition in a place I am comfortable with around good friends.

So fun!

I also celebrate the past year - seeing the areas of growth in my life, seeing how I'm so far from where I was a year ago, when I was struggling so much...Taking one step at a time towards growth wasn't always fun, and many times it was hard and painful, but now I look back, and see so many benefits...

I am so thankful for the Lord's grace through it all. He is truly so good to me.

And I will celebrate His love.

Remembering...

It's 12:20 am and I want to sleep, but my mind keeps on thinking about this past year and all the things that have happened...

It was a year ago that the foundations I had been building of my own good works and my own merits fell crashing down - all built on the sand of my own efforts. Even though I knew all the right answers about God's love and grace in my head, I saw the huge disconnect between the knowledge I knew intellectually and my actual experience. Through the pain of facing my own fear, anger, anxiety, doubt, shame, and guilt, I saw how messed up I really was.

And I was left broken, unable to fix myself, doubting who I was, doubting God and His goodness.

And being in that broken place grieved me because I hated seeing the reality of who I was.

And yet, it was in this broken place, in this place where I realized I could not fix myself, that God met me in great and profound ways.

It was here that He showed me His love was unconditional...that I did not have to do anything to earn His love, that I couldn't even be capable of doing anything to receive His love because I was so broken and messed up.

It was here that He held me, when no one else could. Through my tears and all the emotions, He held me.

In His gentleness, He never judged me or condemned me, but in His love, drew me to Him - to His loving arms.

And I'm still in the process of healing, and He continues to meet me where I'm at...and for this, I'm thankful.

So yes, I would go through this past year again, even through the pain of it all, because it was in this pain that God's love was made real to me.

And now, I know that God is good, not just intellectually, but in a deeper, experiential way.

God is good and His lovingkindness endures forever.

Caring For Your Introvert

Yen posted this article on my facebook wall...

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/03/caring-for-your-introvert/2696/

so witty and well-written and true!

it feels nice that other people are similar to me i can resonate with their experience.