It’s been two weeks since I started my senior year of college, and I’m already stressed—in the greatest way possible. I’m taking ballet, and all my other classes are online. I’ve had time to start a blog, share my faith, watch Gilmore Girls, bake for the church welcome table, spend time with friends, and make it to every campus ministry event.
The last two weeks have flown by. Yes, it’s good to be busy, but you also need rest. Even Jesus rested when He needed to. Sometimes I forget to live in the moment because I’m so focused on the past or the future.
This semester is already jam-packed with both highlights and lowlights. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. What I do know is that making memories and sharing these moments with friends is once in a lifetime. Honestly, I wish I had done it sooner. If I could go back, I would choose more joy, appreciate traffic as a chance to look at the sunset, and stress less about school. Coming to Jesus has taught me to shift my perspective for the greater good.
Every time I hung out with friends this week, I stepped back and looked at what God has given me. In those moments, I felt so much gratitude. Watching people laugh and talk and truly enjoy themselves puts me at peace. That’s what memories are about—not taking pictures every second, not having a phone in someone’s face, but actually being in the moment.
Being in your 20s goes by fast. I’m about to turn 22, and sometimes I feel like I’ve wasted too much time scrolling my phone or sleeping life away.
Highlights so far:
- Started a daily blog
- Learned what a tendu was in ballet
- Baked with my roommate (and set off the fire alarm)
- Shared my faith with over 200 people (lots of no’s, but some yes’s)
- Watched my friend drop her chicken in a parking lot
- Took a stranger to the grocery store
- Picked on the brothers in church
- Tried making donuts (and failed completely)
- Started running in the mornings
- Took pictures of a sunset
- Haven’t worked in two weeks
- Saw a butterfly on a 3rd-story building
- Helped a bug flip over
- Loved the pretty lights in downtown Ann Arbor at night
- Met twins in class (first time I’ve ever seen twins in person!)
- Pulled out my heated blanket
Sometimes the joy in life is right in front of us, but we miss it. With my memory issues, I forget little moments, but even the ones I remember remind me that we often focus on the bad so much that we let the good slip away.
Lowlights so far:
- Got a roommate I wasn’t supposed to have (but I love her now)
- Fought with my brother
- Miss my little sister
- Miss my dog
- Had a serious talk with the sisters in church (but it turned out great)
- Had to accept that a boy might not like me back (and that’s okay)
- Struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts
- Panic attacks came back
- Felt like God didn’t love me
- Realized I need to work on my anger
- Spent too much money on school
- Dealing with a school balance
- Had to talk to cops on campus
- Broke down about my grandma passing
- Cried every day last week
There are more highlights than lowlights—but only by one. If I didn’t share the lowlights, it might look like everything was fine. The truth is, I had some really hard moments. But even in those hard moments, I still remember the good, and that’s what keeps me going.
There will always be more good moments than bad. Just because you had a bad minute in a day doesn’t mean the whole day is ruined.
Be grateful for both the good and the bad. The good will keep you going, and the bad will keep you growing. That’s life. Live in the present, and let future you worry about the future.
Make a list of highlights and lowlights every week. And if you find yourself with more lowlights, challenge yourself to create more highlights the next week. Make your life the way you want it—and let God tweak it and guide you.
Letters Between Sundays 
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