Hope.

I have a hope in the shape of a little ring. I always wore it on the fourth finger on my left hand. Today I gave it away for safe keeping. For an assurance. It was small and silver, but it's meaning was bigger than life. It feels really strange not to have it on, to look at my hand and not see it gleaming there. But it was only a transfer for the time being.

[FYI: Dad? I know you read this, but still. Don't freak yet.]

Distance doesn't compare to the meaning. There is nothing too big to overcome and there is an abundance of faith. We've crossed our t's and dotted our i's, we crossed our lines and dotted our promises; there is no turning back. Moving forward means either epic success or epic failure with no middle ground. We shot the middle man and squelched time from now to then, and if then never arrives then we are lost in negative space. We are standing on the precipice, you and I, and if we time it right we'll start flying. It's sink or swim, and we're swimming against the current, soaring against gravity, striving against reason. It is a tough road to hoe, especially when the cheer from the stands turns into eye-rolling disbelief. But the biggest hill to climb will be the one of waiting and staying in line. It's the restraint involved, the self-control, the willpower that will be the ultimate test; if we love each other like we say we do, there will be respect, and commitment, and purity. If we love the Lord like we say we do, individually more so, even, than together, then there will be such things and temptation will fall short in the light of His Glory. Failure is undesirable but we must constantly be on guard; there is no "it won't happen to us." Trust? Hmm... trust.

So much was unexpected in you. Every new thing is an adventure and I love it. How would I ever have guessed? I wouldn't have. I would never have guess, or dreamed, or imagined. It just... happened. Things realigned. A first and simultaneously a last, for me. A sunrise and an eventual sunset, but we haven't even reached midday. It's the last wee, beautiful hours of the morning, with the light dawning over a landscape so serene that we can't quite make it all out yet.

The future is big. We will do things on our own; we will go our own ways; we will make our own friends and have our own adventures and accomplish our own dreams. It's wonderful! But there's a part that we will always, reassuringly, have together. Together. Six months behind us and so many, many more to go. As we always say, let's do it right.

Two Trees Converge in a College Park

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both,

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth." *

Two trees converged in a college park,

And sorry I could not see their fate,

And be one oak tree, long I stood,

And tried to grow sturdy, as much I could,

Until I was merged to another weight.

Our limbs were long and gnarled be,

Twined with garland and persimmon leaves,

And reaching up to touch the sky,

The cleanest, purest expanse on high,

We determined to flourish righteously.

"And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black

Oh, I marked the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back."

As time took time, irrelevantly,

The days changed from summer into fall,

And more I merged the the louder I sang,

We had our promises and picked our names,

When autumn arrived, they were strong and tall.

But as the light turned bright to gray,

We shed our colors and bared our flesh,

And together in the dimming glow

The other we both came to know,

Proximity closed— thus failed the test?

"I should be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence;

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I

I took the one less traveled by

And that has made all the difference."

I should be thinking this with a sigh,

Some days and hours later, yet,

With branches now exposed and bared,

Roots intertwined, all has been shared,

The closer we come, the closer we'll get.

And limb on limb, with all leaves fair,

Brushing together in the cooling air,

It must be done at an early age,

When we're still naive enough to say

This is right, and it's okay—

Will that make all the difference?

*Robert Frost reference, "The Road Not Taken"

The Pot Who Called the Kettle Black

I've never tried my eggs sunny side up. I have no idea if I'd like them or not, but I do like the idea of "sunny side up" anything. It's like being on the up and up, with a silver lining, where we're golden. All from an egg.

God has been good. I met some wonderful Christian friends while trying out for an a capella group, and through them a campus ministry. It's called InterVarsity. Dell— prayer works wonders. Thank you.

Danielle and Delsie and I actually went to the gym today. It was a pretty good workout, and we're going to make a habit out of it. I think Danielle and I figured Tuesdays and Thursdays work well with out schedules. Since it's free, there's no better excuse to get in shape!

... It's funny. I feel good. Not stuck in routine, not complacent. Today for my comic book class the teacher decided that the weather was so nice that we should have class outside. I loved it. Our campus is absolutely gorgeous and there was a breeze, and we were let out early to boot. It was a pretty productive day.

I had to write a paper for my Hebrew Bible class. I had to basically contradict everything I truly believe and sound like an atheist, and honestly, it was quite interesting. It wasn't hard to write at all, like I thought it was going to be. I just wrote what made logical, current sense. Which, of course, according to faith, makes no sense at all.

This is choppy. Probably because it's late and I want to go to bed. I have an 8:00 class in the morning (woo). But this weekend is going to be great. Fantastic, even. Because time will be of no consequence, and we'll crash. Amen.