This is a featured post from Brittany Zielske. She is a senior majoring in Communication Studies whose laugh is infectious. Although you may be tempted to, don't ever call her Rebecca Black, the last person that did that was named Frank. Yeah, we don't remember a Frank either.
To all the wonderful people who have called themselves Chi Alphans during the last four years:
I’m sorry if this letter gets really sappy. I’ve already cried six times trying to write it, so just bear with me.
I have spent weeks (seriously) trying to come up with the best way to tell you goodbye, and I have realized only one thing: I don’t know how to tell you goodbye. I have no idea what it is supposed to look like to leave the community that introduced me to the love of my life and cried with me in my suffering and delighted in my triumphs and absolutely transformed my soul. I only know that, despite how painful and scary the thought of leaving you is, I have an overwhelming peace because I know that we’re all chasing Jesus and you taught me that He is worth more than anything. And that means there is comfort and security in goodbye because goodbye is what has to happen for us all to have the fullness of Him we were made for.
That said, there are two things I want to tell you as I leave.
First of all, thank you. Thank you for being present in my life day in and day out for four years. Thank you for wanting me to know Jesus, even when that meant giving up your own time or comfort. Thank you for loving me when I hurt you. Thank you for always rejoicing in my triumphs. Thank you for being a safe place to succeed and a safe place to fail. Thank you for showing me what the body of Christ really means.
Second, you have been an amazing teacher. You have taught me more about God’s grace and following Jesus and loving others than a book ever could. As I’ve been reflecting on the time I’ve spent with you, I realized there are three major things that I positively would not have learned without you, and each one of them has changed my life. Some are things you’ve told me directly, and all are things you have taught me by the way you do life together.
These things you’ve taught me are by no means things I’ve mastered. I still fail at putting them into practice daily. But, because of your presence in my life, I get to live the rest of my life chasing after these truths and watching Jesus work out the details the way only He can.
1) True healing happens in community.
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