Noun: person, place, AND thing.

When I was thinking of names for this blog, I immediately pictured myself back in the commons in my tiny room on my big bed stuffed in the corner by the window. I pictured my friends- my teammates and my sisters. I pictured our wall filled with stolen computer paper from ASCDU with secrets, thoughts, and scriptures colorfully painted on each piece. It was our spot, our haven.

For those of you who weren't there, I had a Bible study with some of my teammates in college. The Bible study took place in my room on my full size bed. During those hours, we called our special place The Haven. We wrote down key points and thoughts on computer paper that I borrowed (-ish) from the athletic tutoring facilities and taped the papers to a wall in my room. We laughed, cried, and learned. I'm hoping, though there are new teammates, new states, new memories, and new chapters to our lives, our Haven will live on through this tiny blog.

Here I am, years later. I'm older, and married, and 7 hours and 7 minutes from my college apartment.

Ready for a new Haven.

Haven,

n 1: HARBOR, PORT.

   2: a place of safety.

   3: refuge, sanctuary.

As a woman with an English degree, you know the first thing I did was open up my Merriam-Webster and finger through the H's until I found her: Haven.

Numbers 2 and 3 made sense to me, but a HARBOR, PORT?

What the.

Harbor: a part of a body of water along the shore deep enough for anchoring a ship, as to provide protection from winds, waves, and currents.

Port:  1: a city, town, or other place where ships load or unload.

         2: a place along a coast in which ships may take refuge from storms.

Is it making sense now?

The truth is that I desperately need a haven. I need anchorage from the winds and waves of my life that uproot me from the sand and toss me to and fro as I choke, desperate to reach the shore. I need protection from life's deep hurts and wounds that need to be stitched instead of bandaged. I need a place to load God's faithful promises and unending grace, and I need a place to unload the mistakes of yesterday as I endure the future. I need to take refuge in Jesus.

Maybe you do, too. I hope you'll be with me as I share from my heart. I hope to share my truth behind the radical ways in which my relationship with God has been turned into my haven. And I hope to hear stories about your haven, too.

Ephesians 4:14-16

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Psalm 34:8

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. (!!!!)

Until next time,

Abbs

For Ally, Kesley, Katy, Dirty, Val, B... and the rest of my teammates. You have forever changed how I view friendship. Distance may forever separate us, but our memories will forever bind us. Welcome back, ladies.