Plans for a Hope and a Future

Done.

After spending way too much time in Vanderbilt's Central Library these past couple weeks (I'm now on a first-name basis with the security guard who closes the library at midnight), I can proudly say that I'm done. I finished my last final this afternoon. Now all that stands between me and summer is the kind of terrifying task of packing up my dorm room. It wouldn't be that difficult except...that it's absolutely crammed full of everything that's been my life for the past 8 months.

My desk drawers are filled with fun little mementos like ticket stubs and wristbands from the fun Nashville concerts I've gotten to experience.

The top shelf of my closet houses my feather boa from my "flapper" costume that I wore for Halloween.

Brightly colored strands of Mardi Gras beads and an AOII hat are hung from my bedpost, fun reminders of Bid Day.

Tucked under my bed is the hand sewn quilt I found at a flea market last fall; it's been my study blanket while I've enjoyed pretty weather on the quad.

A pair of red work gloves lie at the bottom of my sock drawer: a reminder of my spring break trip to a Virginia farm.

And tacked to my wall are countless pictures, notes, and letters that encompass most of my experiences from freshman year.

As I look around my room, at all of this stuff that needs to be packed into the back of the Birmingham-bound mini-van tomorrow, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for everything I have had the chance to experience this year. I am so thankful for Vanderbilt. Around this time last year, I was still uncertain about whether I had made the "right" college choice. But now, I can hardly imagine living my college life anywhere else; I'm so grateful that God made his plan for this part of my life clear.

The idea of packing up all of this and leaving for the summer seems surreal. I moved in to this dorm room in August, as a college freshman reluctant to leave home and uncertain of what life at Vanderbilt would hold. As I prepare to leave this place, I realize that I have been blessed almost beyond comprehension with an incredible freshman year, and with better friends than anyone should ever get the chance to ask for. 

So to those of you who have shared your lives with me over coffee, in a classroom, or at a football game; to those of you who have claimed me as your sister and loved me as family; to those of you who have made this campus my second-home, I can never say thank you quite loudly enough. I love you all dearly.

As I prepare to leave here tomorrow, I rejoice in the wonderful gift that my freshman year has been. And I am reminded of the dear and familiar promise of Jeremiah 29:11 "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."  Though this verse is an often-quoted source of reassurance, I know that I do not dwell on it often enough.

By nature I'm a planner; I like to know what I'm doing later tonight and tomorrow and next week. But in moments like these, when I face the end of my freshman year of college and I am surrounded by tangible reminders of how wonderful it has been, I am humbled. For in moments like these, I can't help but realize that plans I dream up for myself could never compare to the plans that God has for me.

So I'll surrender to His control and acknowledge that I'm ready for whatever adventure He has planned next.