There may be some flaws with the overall structure or dynamic of my community. There are things about my ministry that rub me the wrong way, make me uncomfortable, irritate me, whatever. But at the core, my community consists of people, and I absolutely LOVE those people. The ones who laugh with me about ridiculous things, who turn and look at me with excitement every time certain worship songs begin, who greet me (and then harass me repeatedly) by wiping their hands across my face, who tease me about anything and everything, who "tag" me and say it's my turn to go to the country they live in, who get so excited about 8:30 a.m. breakfast the day they are leaving for a huge, exhausting mission trip they have been working towards for months. I love that I have a friend I see no more than once a month who can walk in, hear one sentence, and tell me that she's "completely positive that God will do amazing things" by using me as a doctor. I love that the past few weeks have seen a roommate become a genuine friend, and that we can admit to being criers, talk about serious things, and decide that only the sensitive boys have smelly feet. And I love that I have a friend who "gets me" better than I can even begin to explain...considering the amazing friends I have, the fact that she clearly stands out as "best" (and she really does) really means something.

This past week has been awful, in a lot of ways. I didn't have a real weekend - I spent the whole thing putting in around 15-18 hours of work on one lab report (roughly 3% of my grade). I spoke up for myself and I really feel like I did the right thing... and it left me with an angry friend. I stayed up late and woke up early, and I can't remember a day this week or even in the last couple of weeks that has been truly focused on God. I've felt empty, to be honest. And I don't totally know what caused me to feel so much better right now. I mean, I do know...I can feel God's presence again. Not in a stunning way, but it's there, holding me up and giving me peace. And peace is a pretty good start.