When Then is Now

"We've come full circle, Katie Jones." Meredith was joking with me in the car as I drove her to Rose Auto Shop on route 1 to get her dear Ishmael after yet another auto repair. I met Meredith for the first time last year when our mutual friend Molly asked me if I could give Meredith a ride to pick up her car from this same auto shop. A friendship was born through happenstance, and this recent consequence of our friendship brought us to a reminder of beginnings and endings. "We've come full circle, but this isn't the end of our friendship. Don't worry about that."

The looming end of college isn't something I've been dwelling on or worrying about. When the truth of the matter does pass through my mind, I still think in terms of possibilities. Places I could move. Jobs I could apply for. Education programs I could apply for. While the scope of my future seems much more limited than before, especially since I've hit my mathematical ceiling and discovered how absolutely terrible a student I am, there still seem to be so many options. There are different things I could be and different cultures of people I could meet. The ideas excite me in ways they did when I was seven-years-old, dead set on one day becoming an amazing dentist or doctor. As fun and educational this college experience has been, I don't for a second think this is it. By no means have I reached my ceiling in terms of purpose. One very thrilling feature of being a Christian is living by the biblical mantra: "God has a plan for me." If nothing else, we've got that.

Earlier today, I ran into Gemma as I was leaving the Nest after having eaten my lunch. She was about to grab some food and then head over to a nice grassy area on the side of Virginia hall under the shade of a tree for a picnic with her fellow freshmen. She invited me to come along, so I did. I sat there almost directly below the window of my very first dorm room at Mary Washington, and I sat amongst a group that so much reminded me of the group of girls I'd hang out with in the Virginia parlor almost every weekday at this same time of day my freshman year. I'd come full circle yet again, but I was experiencing it alone this time. These fresh and expectant young girls are only beginning their circle. They have all the possibilities of classes and majors and friends and growing independence. In a few years, they will be where I am right now, and I will be in the midst of some other season myself.

I'm not trying to head into a there's-nothing-new-under-the-sun track. On the contrary, all this nostalgia has put me in an abnormally optimistic mood. I've got a not-Obama-but-Jesus-infused hope in it all. Today, tomorrow, and all lengths of time God has promised for each of our respective futures. There is a time to dance, and that time is now.