"Our God is present. He comes to set things right. In his very name is rescue. This is who He is. There is not a moment in human history that has eluded His gaze. There is not a second in your life that He was not around. He is unavoidable. He is inescapable. He is inevitable and undeniable. He is." -DWC

Return Journey #2...

Went home on Friday, but look the long route adn swung by ECU to pick up Margaret and her roommate from ECU. There room is tiny and looks like a freshman dorm room... We all ate lunch where Erin works, and Jeremy met us. Jeremy is hilarious. period.

Ran a gazillion errands once i got back but actually only got one of the things done I needed too, oops. Met up with Christie and Ingram (sooooo glad Christie is the one who took over with Ingram for me, so great.) And then headed over to State's Campus to meet DANIELLE AND PAUL. Paul has never been to Raleigh so we gave him a mini-tour of the old stomping grounds ("and there's the park where one time we we in the parking lot eating ice-cream and cops came and thought we were doing drugs...") It was really great getting to see Danielle, even though we only see each other like once a year adn only talk a little more than that... its nice having a friend that its like nothing ever changed and no time had passed. I shall keep her. And Paul, who FINALLY got to meet my mom. They left kind of early because they had to go to a wedding in Tennesse, which stinks that i didn't get to see them much, but some is way better than none. Afterwards headed over to James' with Christie as a surprize and hung out with James, Ty, Drew and Spencer. We read Calvin and Hobbes. Boys played videogames. Pizza was eaten. Movie was eventually watched.

Saturday I spent a godawful amount of money at Jerry's Art-a-rama (aka my favorite place with a stupid name) but less than i would've spent trying to buy them in D.C. Met Allison and Tim for lunch at Southpoint, such a fun couple. I recommend hanging out with them. Next went over to my Dad's house to see hima nd the twins. Went swimming with my Dad, my sister and the twins (Dad pointed out that he has four children. Which is twice as many as he had two years ago. And I realized that I have three brothers and sisters. Which is weird. Cause I used to only have one.) The twins are hilarious to watch and interact with. I recommend hanging out with them as well. Saturday night I met a bunch of people at Panera- if anything, being gone is great because when i DO come back, i call like everyone I know from the Y and stage get togethers that might not normally happen. Afterwards we went over to Andrew's apartment. We played some DVD/movie trivia game- red team rocked out. After that a bunch of the cool kids went outside and played hide and seek/sardines.

-time out. read that again. HIDE AND SEEK. this is why i love my friends. end time out.-

So Saturday was very fun. and busy.

Sunday I went to church and got to see Emily and Meg, and surprized them because they didnt know i was coming. which was fun. Lunch at Fat Daddy's, i spilled cheese on myself. It was very classy. Ran even more errands. Then went to Erin and Jeremy's food tasting thing for the wedding with the Morins and Smithers (plus christie). The reception hall is really pretty, and the food was good. Minus the vomit salad ("bleu cheese"). And then i went home and hung out with my mom.

And that was my weekend, I left at 6 this morning with my 200 pound suitcase (soupcase). No really. It was crammed full of $80 worth a groceries and $250 worth of art supplies. Oh, and some clothes. I about broke my arm off lugging that thing on the metro and like walking ten blocks. but nothing broke and/or exploded. awwwwe-some.

um. yep. got back with 45 minutes ebfore my painting studio. painted with oils for the first time ever, they are weird. though i mostly got the hang of it by the end.

ummm. yeah.

fun times. i love my friends and family. that is all.

-meredith*

first week of real classes this week. blah blah. good times. made a little man in class made out of twigs and masking tape. on a little romp out to Adam's Morgan with some girls from the department he was named George (Hor-hay). Without further ado, George:

um. yeah. that's about it.

but more importantly....

I'm GOING HOME THIS WEEKEND.

i like home a lot. but there's definitely a special guest this weekend, as Miss Danielle (er, whoa. Mrs.) will be in Raleigh this weekend as well, straight from Texas with her husband Paul (my best friend-in-law). So this is very exciting as I haven't seen her since I was in her wedding last December. As well, there will no doubt be quite a few cameos from some of my other near and dears throughout the weekend. As this trip shall not be tainted with any court related garbage, I'm really excited to try and cram seeing as many people as possible into what will no doubt prove to be a very short weekend.

if i don't get to spend time with you, it's not because i don't love you. it's just further evidence that YOU need to come see ME here in D.C. It's a fun city. lots to do. Plenty of floorspace to crash on. Now scheduling.

off to pack & sleep if i can (going home is like CHRISTMAS. only with friends and family instead of presents. and hugs instead of reindeer.)

mere*

"and I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with in you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."
1 corinthians 2:1-5

i went exploring today. on the right is more or less the route i took. I think i was gone like two hours. it was most enjoyable. hardly anyone was out because of the holiday and most shops were closed. but it was beautiful and sunny but cool. fall is coming. I'm excited. I took some pictures, but you can't see them yet. (i'm up to something). -mc*

Actually got to go to Capitol Hill Baptist for the first time today since I moved here-- every other Sunday I've been having to do residence hall stuff.

Met up with some people to take a van to the church... definitely nice not to have to take the metro, especially after yesterday... (yesterday they just down a metro station, so i had to get off at one station, get on a shuttle, which, mid-ride, a girl literally right behind me had some sort of medical issue and had fainted. Once she got medical attention, they found us a different shuttle to take to the next station. I would've been irritated, but i was too annoyed with myself for not being able to offer more help when the girl fainted. Anyways, it took me like two and a half hours to get where I was trying to go.)

I met a bunch of nice people while waiting for the van. Once I got to the church, we were hanging out in the lobby and the pastors wife (Mrs. Mark Dever) asked if any of us were named Meredith... she was actually looking for ME. Apparently she'd had a conversation with Dana and Emily a few weeks prior and actually remembered my name. and major. and that I was a CF. I was pretty amazed, and on top of that she was telling me about allt hese people in the church that I needed to meet because they worked in fields that i might be interested in. Needless to say, I felt very welcome. adn that was the first fifteen minutes I was even there.

The service was wonderful- as expected. It's much more traditional than PBC, but i like it. The sermon was amazing, Pastor Dever is doing a series on 'The Church and Her Challanges.' Really relevant to some conversations i've been having recently. Ton of information i'm still having to wrap my head around... I took like three pages of notes i'll ahve to spend some time on tomorrow....

Spent the afternoon putting together some of the things I got at IKEA the other day... very excited, i now ahve a nice little reading corner with a bookcase full of books, a chair and a new coffeetable. My room is starting to actually... look like someone lives here. Somehow managed to visually divide the space.

Had a great conversation with Amanda-- miss her a lot. I guess distance makes you appreciate people and places that you always just took for granted.

Special prayer request- someone I love and care about is ahving a really, really hard time right now. Feeling especially helpless that I'm so far away, even though if i was in Raleigh, there really wouldn't me much more I could do. But some people there are taking care of her that I ahve absolute confidence in... Sorry to be so vague, but God'll know.

Um. yeah. final thoughts: watched the state game. haven't talked to my sister recently, whihc makes me sad. i like things that are made of metal. or are shiny. 'Meredith likes shiny objects' that's basically what I jsut admitted. Even though I really just looked at my lamp. I love lamp.

must. stop. now.

-meredith*

Tonight I had my first real class with the art therapy department. And I must say, I'm pretty excited. All through undergrad I took these psych classes full of theories, and now, they're actually being applied to ART. And it's exciting to me, because I don't have to do it myself, and all those theories translate into something real- or at least applicable, to things I care about. Already, in our first class we talked about Jung and the mandela (something I already knew) but talked about how often mandelas are created unintentionally in art especially by children.

I know 99.9 percent of you don't care. But the thing is. I DO. And so do the 17 other girls in my program.

I'm supposed to be here.

I know I keep saying that, but its so incredibly comforting knowing that there are other people with me going through the same experience and understand how exciting it is when everything (finally) clicks.

I have nothing to complain about. I miss my friends and family, but this experience is so worth it.

Pray for me, but more importantly that I continue to be so content and able to see God heaping blessings over me. Pray for my faith, that it grows stronger and fortifies in these new conditions. Continued prayer for my mission of faith within the Aston- I've, literally, encountered many shut doors... but there is a group here well equipped to change lives. Pray for the girls of the art therapy program- I'll be with the same small group of girls for the next two years. Pray for them. So many come from such diverse backgrounds, and have suffered through a lot in life and have found solace in art and see potential for it in helping others. These are souls with compassion, but good intentions are nothing without knowledge of Christ. Pray for my witness and strength of character that I can exalt Christ in my actions and relationships with each of them.

so. blessed.

-meredith*