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"It Smells Like Starlight"

My summer has been so packed with so many amazing things!

I did Lifest in July, where my brother's band WithoutExcuse played. It was so super amazing! I bought a buttload of TWLOHA gear, since I love them so very dearly.

I also went to my second home, Lake Ellen Camp. I love that place, I love the people, I just love it!

I learned so much and I really grew so much in my faith. My best friend got baptized, too! I can't express how much I want to be on the staff next year, when I'm old enough, and stay the whole summer. I made so many friends and I miss them already.

One night, all the girls in my cabin stayed up till about midnight (2 hours after curfew, we like to live dangerously) just stargazing.

Here's a status I wrote about it-

Last night, I went out and looked at the stars in Michigan. An overwhelming emotion overcame me and I actually almost cried with the sheer beauty of creation above me. Among my sleep-deprived comments of "it smells like starlight" and "shh, if you listen close you can hear the stars singing," I quietly bathed in the silent elegance of those little pin-holes in the blanket of sky that look through to heaven. I saw ten shooting stars, but gave up on wishes, realizing I have all that I need and a wish is a silly thing anyway
I actually almost cried. I felt like I was looking at the face of God, and then Tiana (a girl in my cabin) said "if the sky is this beautiful, imagine how much more beautiful heaven will be." My mind was overwhelmed with the awe and power of the Creator, and how he formed all of the universe by simply speaking into the void.

He can command the stars to shine with a breath; he is so much bigger than this world and its problems.
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John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

And this Lord who formed everything by the words from his lips and who commands the wind to blow and the stars to come out at night, he loves us with a fierce love that surpasses anything we could hope to wrap our minds around.

I don't know about you, but that makes me want to face the world with a smile on my face and laughter in my heart.

Like it says in Proverbs 31 about the Wife of Noble Character:

Proverbs 31:25 "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."

Take heart, laugh at the days to come, and trust in the Lord who spoke the world into existence and whose love for you is seven times deeper than the sea.

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