First Love.

Every fall, I think about the new beginnings this time of year and I get nostalgic. The middle of August rolls around and I hear kids talk about going back to school and I see backpacks and pencils and rulers in stores and I smile. A new year at school brings such potential.

I didn't really love my school years, until college. The best fall I ever had was freshman year at USD. Hands down, no contest. My excitement about moving on to a new stage of life was nothing compared to my excitement about discovering a God that could be known, and that wanted me to know Him.

Each fall, I think about coming to Christ for the first time. It took a level of faith I'd never exercised before, faith in something I didn't totally understand, but wanted to know so badly I put it above everything else.

That passion is hard to rival, but I feel it coming back within my grasp. I've certainly been growing in my faith in the last six years (6! wow!), but nothing like that first taste of walking with the Lord.

I'm at a huge transition in life. Going right from college to joining staff was a big jump, but I was still surrounded by good friends in a very familiar city. Now I'm making that first big move to a new location and developing more post-college relationships. I can be so introverted, but I've spent so much time alone in MPD over the last year-plus, I love getting out and meeting new people. It's so unbelievable that God works in each of our lives in unique and important ways to each of us...all at the same time. Even when we don't think He's working in our lives, He is. Unbelievable.

So far, moving has actually had a huge positive impact on my spiritual life. I can't do this half-hearted. I have to be all in, totally committed.

One thing that's been aiding in my spiritual growth has been a new small group. It's been several months since I've been in a consistent, challenging, small group, and probably six months since attending one that actually studies the Bible. Both last Thursday and tonight I attended a small group at a local church. It's kind of the typical 20 something group- coed, some married, some single, some in college, some late 20s. But finding a random group of people in a small suburb who have all experienced God in unique and amazing ways is so encouraging.

I cannot imagine being more content with my life than I am right now, in this moment. There are certainly things that I'd like to change, but those will change in time. I'm so excited to be back to a place I haven't been in awhile - seeing the world through new eyes. Redemption is a great thing- and a blessing, knowing we can experience it more than once in our lives.