thank you...

i wanted to write this post before i fly to china tomorrow, but finding the time amidst all the trip preparations has proven to be difficult. originally, this post was intended to be a retrospective of the past four years. however, i think i have already shared my assessment of my college experience with you guys multiple times. instead, i write simply to offer a humble thank you for the relationships that i have been privileged to have been a part of and continue to be a part of. i should have told you guys before how much i value the ways you have shared your lives with me, and i will and already have begun to miss you guys. i believe that experiences can often times be best defined by the relationships that were involved, and this is how i define my college experience. as i said at senior large group however, this isn't the end necessarily, but rather a new beginning in our relationship. moreover, i would encourage everyone to view change as an opportunity for further growth. in contrast, i think if we lived our whole lives in one place, our experiences and our growth would be severely limited. so again, i thank you and encourage you all to look towards the future--this is not the last time we will see each other. until we meet again, i leave you with the following:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.