Windows

We were at Homecoming at our alma mater this weekend.  This one was particularly nostalgic for me.  I was overwhelmed with gratefulness for the sacrifices my parents made for me to go to such a special place.  I was struck by the ways this place began the process of making me who I am still becoming.  I was thankful for the adults there who discipled me, taught me, set examples for me, and STILL know my name and where I live and how many kids I have.  I was intrigued by the way the campus seems so different and yet still the same.  

I began taking pictures of our windows at Milligan.  I would have gone inside to take a picture of the actual rooms, but you never know when a girl might be walking around naked in the girls' dorms, and, if I had walked into the boys' dorm, I might have gotten a fine from the RA!!!! By the time I was done, I decided it was kind of neat to have a collection of windows in my camera...

...the highest, farthest window is my first dorm room, Hart 317, where I made dear, forever friendships, where I lived when my dad died, where I studied Calculus and Chemistry and Humanities and where I slept through classes (I hope my mama doesn't read this!!), where I dreamed of someday becoming a wife and mama, where I started becoming a grown-up, where I ate Papa Johns pizza at midnight, where I counted my change to go on Taco Bell runs at 2 am...

...somewhere on the top floor is Tim's first dorm room, Webb 304, where he roomed with the other Tim, ate breadsticks that the pizza hut guy brought back for free (you know Tim!), played poker with pennies, got up really early to practice piano, packed his backpack to study in the library for lots of hours, where he walked down the stairs to meet me on the sidewalk for a goodnight hug...

...Williams 101, where I became an RA, where I lived with some of the sweetest girls on the planet, where I hosted dinner parties on open house night, where I baked cookies for Tim, where I fell even deeper in love, where I spent many nights falling asleep with Jesus as I read the Word and prayed...

...Quillen 101, where Tim became an RA, where he grew to love Nathan, where Nathan drove him nuts by waking him in the middle of the night to go sledding or taste a carmel apple (thank you, Nathan, for preparing him for me!!), where Tim fell more and more in love with the Word, where he hid my engagement ring...

...now I look at the campus through the window of a mini van.  It's a different view, but I'm still the same girl, blessed to be living in the Kingdom, excited about the future, trying daily to be who he wants me to be, failing miserably, and trying again the next day...

...when I look through the window, I see a man I am more in love with now than I was then, who loves Jesus with his whole heart, who loves me in the most perfect of ways, who is an incredible dad, who I might never have found if I hadn't spent some time at this special place, who is excited about the future, who is SO HOT...

...I see 3 sweet boys who are growing up to be like Jesus, who want to go to Milligan now because they played on inflatables at Homecoming and saw that there's a soccer team and liked the Coke in the SUB...

I am blessed beyond my imaginings.  Thank you, Father, for loving me, choosing me, sending me, protecting me, using me, saving me, calling me...

**For more pics of homecoming, see Hold On...My Hearts Giving Birth.**