words that bring me tears to my eyes

Dear Aunt Sara,

I hope you have a good day at school when you go. And I hope your teachers love you. And when you go to school, sit down at the right desk, okay? And when you go to school, study a lot! And when the sun rises, wake up.

That was an exact transcription of what my precocious, adorable three and a half year old niece Jocelyn thought my sister Rebecca should write in a card I received from them yesterday. I love my family! I'm sad that they're so far away, but excited to see them at Joya's wedding in TWO WEEKS!

However, I have a lot of school work to do in those two weeks. Eeeekkk...

Last night ICS had its October convocation, where the president gave his inagural address and an honorary doctorate was bestowed upon a very worthy recipient. The whole thing made me very glad to be studying at ICS. I'd been doubting how well I fit with what ICS has to offer--so much philosophy--but I think that I need to get through all this tough deep philosophy stuff before I can really have a good understanding of its APPLICATION to real life, which is where my real interest lies. I served at the wine and cheese reception afterwards, and it was such a joy to see the hall packed with ICS supporters all chatting and discussing and laughing and having a wonderful time! AND MY PARENTS CAME! They live close by, but I still don't get to see them so much, and I love them.

And I saw Syd and Evelyn, and Grandpa Hulst, and the VanderStelts, and a bunch of people from my church. For the first time in a while, I felt like I was at home in that community.