It keeps hitting me, harder and harder

Last night, as I was organizing some details of our ceremony, and listening to the music for our ceremony, I imagined, more clearly than ever, my own wedding day!  This is all so surreal.  I have always dreamed of getting married, wearing a white dress, and having Ave Maria as some of the music in the ceremony, but beyond that, I never imagined exactly what I would say to my husband-to-be as my pledge and promise to him.  I was lying in bed, with my laptop on my lap, and I had to hold back the tears.  Tears of joy and tears of emotion.  This is a big deal!  This is real!  Really?  It feels surreal.

Last night was also when I realized that I have to start saying good-bye to people.  As I've been getting rid of "stuff" over the last 3 months, some things have been harder than others to part with.  Christmas decorations, ladder and tools being some of the hardest.  But, that is nothing compared to leaving people.  Over the last 2 years especially, I have really started to establish some incredible friendships, and of course, some of them I have only met in the last year.  Last night it hit me again: I'm about to leave some friends who I have gotten to know really well, and I'm about to leave some friends who I've just started to get to know, and who I was really looking forward to getting to know so much better.  That's really selfish, though, because these people are fantastic people, and it's just me that's missing out on their friendship... but I know God will bless other people through them just as He has blessed me through them.

I know that friendships will change, relationships will change over time-- especially when there are other significant circumstances that change.  It will be MUCH more difficult to see or get together with any of my current friends, but I'm SO thankful that there are so many ways to keep in touch.  And I'm especially thankful for a great God who is the most faithful friend of all, and the reminders that even when everything else it unknown, or seemingly gone, God is there, and God is faithful.