This past weekend was both FHSU's and HHS's graduation. It was a beautiful weekend for graduating! I had several friends graduating, and I am so proud of them. They are terrific friends and great people; I'm so excited to see where they go next in life, I have only positive expectations for them.
I had the opportunity to play for both of FHSU's commencements (masters and undergrads). I can't tell you how amazing it was to be playing music in a large ensemble again; especially on my primary instrument. I really took that for granted since I started playing music, and I'm so grateful I'll have many opportunities to play so much music this fall.
On Sunday I went party-hopping with my sister to some HHS's graduates' parties. One in particular stood out for me. A friend of Livie's had his graduation party a few miles north of Hays on Buckeye Rd in the building of a once schoolhouse. It's crazy how you can live in the same place for all of your life and never realize places like this. I think people under appreciate small towns for this reason; they don't know there is something new to discover everyday.
We arrived around 7:30pm with the windows rolled down and my right hand out catching the wind and the sunlight from the soon-to-be setting sun. We arrived at this new-found location and did the typical graduation party thing of congratulating the graduate, grabbing as much free food as possible, and making awkward conversation with strangers.
When we walked out of the building, the sky had become even more beautiful than only fifteen minutes ago. The storm clouds looked even more deep and mighty with the sun breaking through. I was drawn to the old playground equipment in the back of the old schoolhouse blanketed with the sun's beams. There were several little kids playing on the teeter-totter and monkey bars. I couldn't help myself, and found myself seated on a swing. Livie hesitated with the dried-on bird crap state of the swings, but I forced her to plant her behind and begin pumping her legs.
We were facing west, and that open Kansas sky wasn't covered by anything. Another thing I took for granted until living in a big city: seeing the sky. There's a lot in the sky you don't realize until you can't see it, the sun, moon, clouds, and stars.
There's only a few occasions in my life when I have experienced anything that I would expect Heaven to be like, and this was one of these moments. Everything was so peaceful, yet full of life and power. The children playing, birds singings, distant conversation going on, the sun blanketing everything it touched. The dark clouds brought out the sun so much more dominately. It's strange how bright things become even stronger when put up against darkness.
As I became synchronized with swinging, I began thinking surely, this is what Heaven is like. I imagined loved ones swinging next to me, lost pets of the past playing in the nearby field. Everything felt right. I believe that God provides beautiful moments in time like this while we're here as a "preview", and He's really good at doing it.
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