What You Can Learn From a Buffalo. Yes, a Buffalo.

This upcoming week is probably going to be one of the most difficult weeks I have had in a while. First off, my mom is taking our family dog, Anber-lin, to her new home tomorrow. Unfortunately my family is not able to take her with them when they move, so we had to find a new home for her. The good news is that she'll be living with a great family, and on a farm at that--she'll love her new home, I just know it. We've had her for the entire time we've lived in the Tri-Cities, and she's been with us through everything--my father's death, and so on.When they say dogs are "man's best friend," they weren't kidding. So tomorrow will be kind of rough.

As to the rest of this week, we've got to finish packing and cleaning our house. My mom and little brother are moving back to the Portland-metropolitan area this weekend, but I'm staying here for the rest of summer to work and to enjoy time with my friends before we all take off for college. It's crazy to think that I will be on my own and independent short of one week. It's exciting yet frightening all at the same time.

And then in August, there's the part where I say goodbye to all my friends and we all part our separate ways to go to college, and so on. I tell you all that to say this--all this change is pushing me out of my comfort zone. Everything's been "taken out from under me," so to speak, and it's put me in a place where I have no choice but to trust God. As I told my mom the other night, "God is literally the only constant in my life." How true is that? Everything can change around you, people can come and go, you can move however far away, and the only One who will never leave you is God. With that in mind, I'm very grateful for this season. I'm growing closer to Him, learning how to make Him my Rock and my Constant, and I can already anticipate how much growth is going to come in the next couple of months.

There's one more thought I'd like to share--something a missionary friend (and adopted aunt) told me the other day when we met for coffee. She said something like this: "It's amazing what you can learn from buffalo. When a storm comes, rather than running away from the storm, they head right into it. Why? Because they get through it quicker, rather than prolonging the storm if they were to run away from it." Isn't that an awesome thought? Take on your storms, don't run away from them. That's definitely encouraged me. So, with all the change coming up in the next week, and in the next month too--I'm going to run head-on into my "storm." Not just so I'll get through it faster, but so I can grow and thrive from it.

Am I ready for change? Not really, but God will get me through it. He always does.