Light as a feather

The craziest scheduled day of Homecoming week was today. There were events that practically filled the entire day I needed to be at, on top of, you know, actual classes.

Because I'm paying money to take classes here, I mean.

Being a part of planning and executing events is a lot of work. This is no surprise to me; I've been doing this to some extent for a long time. But in most ways, today was easier than I thought it was going to be.

There were certainly some frustrations. There was certainly some confusion. There was certainly some problem-solving. To me, though, it all comes down to the outcome.

One of our events was a pillow fight. Yes, a pillow fight with feather-filled pillows with college kids. I watched, and honestly, it was fun to watch (even though there was no real winner). It was our last event of this crazy day and we were graciously granted the glorious task of clean-up.

All. Those. Feathers.

This is a photo of the Beatles. Look at them. Look what fun they're having. Look how clean it is.

Do you see any feathers in this picture? I don't.

Tonight, there were feathers absolutely everywhere. They coated the tarp over the gym floor that participants used as a playing field, they were strewn up the stairs, they were in my shoes and up my nose.

But at the end of it all, one of the people who had been involved in the events all day came up to me and said that he had had a great time. He was exhausted (and not surprisingly) but he had a lot of fun.

That was good enough for me.

As long of a day as it was, as much as I could have let get to me, I found joy today. I am at peace right now. God is so good and has surrounded me with people who are in the same boat as me. My professor referenced a verse today that I thought of differently:

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." - Proverbs 27:17

We have each other to rely on, to get mad at, to laugh with, to share feelings with - to be a part of each other's lives. We can learn from each other and grow and comfort one another. I relied on God today to get me through the busyness and I found joy in the people surrounding me.

There will always be fights and feathers to pick up afterward, but when it comes to learning from it and finding joy in the end - I'm game.

Enjoyable things about today:

1. Free coffee drinks
2. Chilly weather
3. Sunshine
4. My night class 
5. People enjoying things I was originally worried people wouldn't enjoy
6. Enthusiasm
7. Downtime, even if it is really late
8. Peaches and cream oatmeal, even if it is the only thing I have really eaten today
9. A professor's humorous sarcasm
10. Reminders from Scripture