Enjoying the View

So this was supposed to be a summary of summer activities, but has clearly morphed into something else, so I'll have to catch you up on summer in the next posting! The month of May was basically a blur which culminated in a new diploma hanging on our wall & a new job - for the summer at least. I graduated with my masters degree in Educational Leadership this May after a year and a half of grad school - an experience that is too difficult to describe in a few words. To sum up, I loved it (at times, loved to hate it)! At this point I am planning on spending another year in the classroom, & pursuing an Assistant Principal position next Spring. However, I have had the opportunity to serve as the administrator for summer school at my home campus, which brings me to June. I have loved every moment of my summer position. It has allowed me to try out my mad leadership skills (ha!), and has served as yet another affirmation that this is what I really want to do. More specifically, I think this experience is helping me realize I really can do this. A few months ago, I was extremely timid about the idea of moving into this type of role, but now (by jumping/falling in the deep end) I realize not only I can do this, but this is what I'm made for. Have you ever been hiking? On one trip to Colorado my high school youth group hiked across the continental divide. This consisted of walking uphill - a lot. We climbed & climbed & climbed, wondering at points where the heck our youth pastor was leading us. Then it happened. We reached the top - a ridge. And standing at that ridge, we could see the beautiful landscape stretched out around us - where we had been & where we were going. It was an incredible experience & one I will never forget. I feel like this is one of those times in my walk with God. He's led me to a ridge & He has allowed me to see more clearly the next leg of the journey. I feel a sense of accomplishment, yet humble thanksgiving that God has brought me to this point & allowed me to see a glimpse of what's coming up next. I find myself thanking Him for who He has made me to be, & finding my security in knowing He loves me, He has a plan for me, & He is with me every step of the way. At this point, I'm kind of at a loss for words, so I'll let David take it from here: Psalm 139: 1-18, 23-24 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.