My sixteenth year

Listening to: I Can Only Imagine by MercyMe

Quote love: "If I die young, bury me in satin. Lay me down on a bed of roses, sink me in the river at dawn and send me away with the words of a love song."

I'm seventeen. As of May 4th.

For some reason it seems that years fly by, and I'm left standing at the end of it with a puzzled expression; but this year was such a long year. And for some other reason people assume that if a year is long, it must have been monotonous and boring.

No. Quite the contrary, I might add.

What did I do in my sweetest sixteenth year?

I laughed so hard I gave myself an asthma attack.

I made some amazing, wonderful friends.

I met a sweet friend of mine at the library and got to tell her "I love you," for the last time, two days before the Lord let her go home.

I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and cried harder than I've ever cried before, understanding for the first time what it means for your heart to ache. If you spend your whole life knowing someone, loving them, giving them a part of your life and heart, then when they die it feels like the piece of your heart you gave to them died when they did.

"Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us..." Psalm 62:8

I read. Quite often. I gained an obsession with J.R.R. Tolkien and Ted Dekker's books (again), which I read through the summer. I also read much of the work of Edgar Allan Poe, who penned Annabel Lee.

Anna and I went to the swings at 10:00 at night. I swung so high I felt as if I could let go and be sitting among the stars. That's the place to be, you know.

My best friend and I went on a walk. In the evening sun which filtered through the towering trees, we line danced. Yes. We line danced with two people, 'cause we are just that amazing. As we trampled through the grass and burrs, I watched the sunlight shift on the ground. Have you ever noticed that sunlight, when seen on the ground from beneath trees, looks a lot like lace? I love that.

I passed out for the first time.

My drama group (Artistic Drama Development) rocked our performances of Mission: Possible. Yours truly played U (like a code name), my cousin played N, and my other cousin played James Blond. The entire process consisted of glasses with radio transmitters, drawing dragon scales on my script, stuffing our faces with candy backstage, vain attempts to be taught how to get dipped in a waltz (also backstage), several guns and other glorious weapons of mass destruction, wearing three layers of clothes, and the happiness of finding my parents and grandmother in the audience. Heh. Run-on sentence?

Went for a walk with seven or eight people and played sardines in the woods. We got eaten by a rose hedge, got tangled in poison sumac (or poison oak...or poison ivy...it was just poisonous), watched someone get slammed in the back with a soggy tennis ball, and watched a fairly violent game of basketball from under a tree. Good times.

I opened the door of the dressing room at Drama and found myself staring down the barrel of a gun*. That's definitely a first.

I looked out my window just now and noticed a wonderfully indescribable sunset. I love sunsets. If the colours of sunsets described something, I think they would make an attempt to describe how strong and beautiful our God is.

This was such a long year. But it wasn't horrible, sad, or boring. It was wonderful. If I were to mention all the memorable events (fortunate and unfortunate), this post would be much, much longer. I hope all my coming years are as lengthy as this one was, because maybe then I'll remember to enjoy them as much as I did this one. This present time passes so fast, and it doesn't bother to wave goodbye. I want to remember to praise the Lord's name, even when things aren't going the way I think they should, and enjoy the time He gave me. I'm looking forward to my seventeenth year.

xoxoxo, 

Suzanne

*Airsoft gun which was a prop for said play.