More accurately, it has been two months since I last posted. Two. Months. Can you tell I'm just having too much fun over here to mess with a blog?? Even so, I am disappointed in myself that I have not documented my time here very well for friends and family. I'm not very good at social media, updating, and the like. At the rate this virtual world is going, too, I'll be left behind soon enough. Oh well.
In about ten days I will be returning home. Where has the time gone? There are only two final exams, one essay, and a few days of last minute sightseeing, souvenir shopping, and packing (bleh.) between me and America. Wow oh wow oh wow! Since I have such little time left, here's what I've been thinking recently. Yesterday, in fact, I wrote this in my journal while taking a lovely study break walk down Lade Braes in the warm sunshine. Yes, you read that right. Warm Scottish sunshine. Without further ado:
I don't know if God planned it, but after a long, wet week He has blessed St. Andrews with a Scottish summer's day. I must say, despite my exams looming nearer and my anticipation to arrive home, I am very content in this moment. This bench along Lade Braes is very warm, and the sun shines directly on me. I hear the water of this small river rolling over rocks, the happy birds chirping and singing to each other, or to God, or just for the heck of it. I also hear the buzz of a close-flying bug, and the occasional conversation as people walk by.
Directly in front of me, I see a path littered with small leaves, trod by many feet, including countless trips of mine that I have taken here. Beyond the path is the bank of the stream, and tiny daisies, white petals and yellow centers, grow. The grass is green, the water is a murky brown (though not ugly), and ferns grow across the stream at the foot of smooth-trunked trees. These are sturdy trees, growing on a sharp incline. They reach high with their lime green leaves. Three yellow flowers grow between two.
Pesky gnats and flies are all over here in this spot, but oddly enough I don't mind at all. Perhaps because I miss home, where I find bugs aplenty on summer days. I also left my sunglasses behind in my room. I am squinting and sneezing at the moment as a result, but this I don't mind, either. The rain and mud has grown old on me. This winter (relative) has lasted far too long for my Texan spirit. I see tall blue flowers and think only of bluebonnets. I smell the floral sunny air and dream of donning a dress without sleeves, no tights on my legs, and shoes in which my toes can breathe. In this moment I am content still, but perhaps only because I see, hear, smell, and feel the promise of home.
St. Andrews has been good to me. Indeed. Yesterday I said goodbye to my Spring Break travel buddy Katie, and we talked about how we've really enjoyed being here. One of the things I liked most this semester was being in such a beautiful place. Truly, wherever I journeyed, even if just down the road, I saw beauty in new ways. As Frodo in Lothlorien, I felt the delight within trees. I reveled in the music of the seaside. Just the other week, I actually tasted the sea salt in the air by the East Sands. My eyes feasted upon the emerald green grass in Ireland. The vineyards in Tuscany. The hills in Austria and England. No other time in my life have I experienced such magnitudes of nature's beauty, God's beauty, in such accessible ways, than here. The mere thought of all I've seen brings a smile to my face and lifts my heart.
What will I do when I arrive home to a place far more limited in outdoor aesthetics? I will have to open my eyes a bit wider to see what is really there. It may not be as obvious, but it is still present. For the same God who created the Fife coast and Bad Gleichenberg, Austria created Keller and Waco, Texas. His creative artistry abounds wherever grass remains (or rocks, or dirt...).So, wide-eyed I will go and seek the beauty there. Some I will have seen before, but there is much remaining to behold. Above all, I will be closer to those whom I love best. Therefore, the beauty their lives display will make whatever surroundings I'm in all the better. And even more than that, the One who loves me best has never nor will ever leave me. So whether I am happy or sad, or a mixture of both, to leave here, there is always a greater hope to ponder, love, and enjoy. After all, He is both here and there, and everywhere.
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