Every Little Thing

The smell of brewed coffee in the morning. My cat rubbing up against my leg. Driving around Fairfield. Listening to Kiss 107 on the radio. Reading for fun. Writing for fun. Rollerblading. Sleeping til noon, never going to bed before 3. Running up and down hills, soaking up the sun, staring out over a lake and daydreaming the days away.

It's the little things that I'm looking forward to.

I have somewhat big plans for this summer. I plan on writing. A lot. I plan on traveling to New York. A lot. I plan on seeing friends as much as possible. Reds games. Niagara Falls. Maybe a trip to Chicago? And perhaps the biggest plan I've ever had for any summer, is the 6 weeks I'll be studying abroad in Worcester, England.

From what I've heard, there are people going on this trip who cannot wait for it to happen. The minute their last final ends will begin the countdown until they are on that 747 flying over the Atlantic ocean for an experience of a lifetime. There are those who have a list of things to do and see while they are abroad and are dreaming up all the possibilities that can happen.

I am not one of them.

That sounds awfully pessimistic. Let me explain.

I am extremely excited for my trip to England. I have been dreaming of studying abroad for quite a few years now, and the opportunity to take this trip couldn't have come at a better time. I will be participating in an independent study which I am looking forward to. My magazine prof will be working with the Soho theaters in London and I am hoping I might be able to go check that out. And last but not least is my awesomely geeky plan to hunt down all the places where The Police had their first steps as a band. To be honest, half the reason I want to go to England is because of my love for The Police. I am dying to take in this culture that influenced who they were and more importantly their music. Every step they took, I'll be blogging it :)

I leave on June 22 from the Indy airport. And I don't desire for June 22 to get here any earlier than it needs to. I need the month and a half from the time I bid my goodbye to Ball State and greet Great Britain with a big "ello love!" Although I always have a thousand "awesome" plans running through my head and all sorts of adventures I want to take on in life, there's nothing quite like being at home with absolutely nothing awesome going on.

It's called simplicity. And as my bio on the side of this blog says, I crave it.

I am looking forward to the days where I don't check facebook. The days where I open up my mailbox to find no more than 2 e-mails. The days where I'm in new york and my cell phone reception is minimal. Days where I lay out in the sun and listen to music all day long. Days where I run without a stopwatch because I am just in the mood to run and to enjoy it. Days where I can spend hours typing away with no goal in mind other than to get every thought and emotion out of my head and onto a computer screen. Days where I can walk around and take photos for fun and write letters to friends and fall asleep in a floaty in my pool. The days of swinging in a hammock, staring off into a sunset, and watching a fire dwindle away in the night. Days where the birds are my alarm clock and the stars are my night light.

It's about returning to nature. It's also about reconnecting with God.

For calling myself a Christian, I haven't written much, at least in a long while, about God. I miss that. I miss Him. I miss praying like I use to, reading the Bible like I use to, talking to my friends about Him like I use to. I miss turning to Him when something's wrong and thanking Him when things seem to be right. I miss trusting Him. My relationship with God seems to have been replaced with new, different relationships. A relationship with school. A relationship with my future. A relationship with worry, fear, paranoia, and making very bad decisions.

This summer my goal is to change that. To change my relationship with God in hopes that it will change me. Instead of focusing on future plans and trying to do something spectacular, as I have often dreamed of in the past, I plan on taking everything one day at a time. If I try to rush to the future or get lost in my dreams, I will only end up making the same mistakes as I've made in the past. I need every single day to work on every little thing. As 2nd Corinthians 5:17 says, "For if anyone is in Christ then he is a new creation; see everything old has passed away, the new has come." I want everything old to pass away because the new has come.

So this summer isn't about England. It isn't about traveling. It isn't about plans. It's not about writing, or my career, or anything of that sort. It is about enjoying every single second of every single day. To appreciate every little thing God has blessed me with. To take in the brewed coffee and watch the sun sink into the lake. I need every little detail. So that I can stop focusing on the big pictures that always seem to distract me, and get to what is really important in life. So that by the end of the summer I have changed, hopefully into a better person.

I can't wait to take in every little thing, because if you pay close enough attention, every little thing can be...

Magic.