Live a little, laugh a lot, and love always...

Though the rain never stops and the skies remain cloudy, 

though the papers pile up and I can't manage my time, 

though I gain my freshman 15 and get the piggy flu... 

I will still rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in God my Saviour. 

Thank goodness for Habakkuk's perseverance and faith! 

I have been feeling slightly overwhelmed by my 3 big papers that are due in the next couple of weeks, not to mention the French play that I need to have read by Friday that I cannot understand a word of! I am feeling incredibly unconfident in my academics, but I've been trying to not let that consume me. Throughout my Quest year, I was challenged with the idea of not only "doing" but also "being". Right now, I'm trying to simply take every day as it is and to incorporate some worship into my day so that I can continually rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in God my Saviour. 

the beautiful view from one street down from the house...
I LOVE walking by this view!

I've been stopping myself from hiding out in the library or my room and trying to balance my time so that I am still incorporating community into my crazy life. I KNOW that I would go insane if I didn't make time to simply be with friends, go for a run, knit, or play some piano... and so even with all my important papers, research, and studying that needs to be done, I think I'll just take a moment to simply breathe and enjoy my night. Chances are when I'm done this year, I won't remember all the "important" arguments I wrote about in my essays or the specific dates in which historical events occurred...I probably won't even remember the incredible amounts of stress I feel every night before a paper is due, when I think that my life is over and that my academic career is shot because I feel positive that I absolutely bombed whatever it was that I was writing about. In the moment, it seems to be so incredibly important and pressing, as if my future career depended on my success in this one piece of writing. But lets be real, that's not how it works. By the end of the year, the only things that I will really take away with me are the relationships I build, the laughs I had, the passions that were ignited in my favourite classes, and the adventures I went on while skipping my sociology classes (don't tell my mum!). 

Life is just so much better when stress is eliminated. And I know that God will always provide a way if I surrender my excessive need to feel like I'm in control. Keep me in check and remind me that life is beautiful and that I am in a gorgeous city that has so much possibility for exploration (even in the rain)! And even though it's hard being so far from my family and my best friend, I have soo much to be thankful for. God is good and faithful! 

Live a little, laugh a lot, and love always...

With Kelsey, one of my wonderful housemates, leaving behind a night of studying to go support another friend performing in the UBC student opera production! What a fun night. Definitely worth the oodles of homework I had piled up for the next day!!