It's over.
Those can be long-awaited words or the most dreaded words that a person hears.
It can signify the end of a long semester full of tears and stress, the end of drawn-out labor culminating the birth of a new life, or the end of a hard-fought battle with cancer.
Those words can bring relief or they can bring agony.
We all face those moments of "it's over" in our lives. Those are moments of joy and of sorrow. As I prepare to enter into my last semester of school ever, I am about to leave one season of my life to enter into another. The words "it's over" echo in my mind with disbelief. I cannot believe I am about to reach that point. It is such a bittersweet moment because I have worked hard to get to this point, but I have become invested and a part of this community of learning and faith that I have been a part of since 2007.
The past few days, I have watched another part of the Campbell community experience this. The Campbell baseball team had a record-winning season of 49 wins. It was an impressive feat with the community rallying behind them with full support. However, the Camels lost by 1 run and were overlooked to continue on. For those players who this is their final year at Campbell, what a bittersweet end. They set a record but ended on such negative note. However, I have never seen such positive outlooks and integrity in the response as I have from the players. They have responded with gratitude and thankfulness at being able to be a part of a team full of support and encouragement. They recognize that being a part of a team that is like a family is not about the score at the end of the day. Campbell University baseball team has won something far greater. The team will only grow stronger, and I am excited to see what they do next year.
Watching the response of the baseball team, the University, and the community in support of the team has made me realize how grateful and blessed I feel to be a part of this community. It gives me hope that we as people can work together to have a community where people are supported and encouraged. As Christians, this is something we are called to do. And we need to recognize we will go through different seasons, as individuals and as a community. We need to be thankful for what each season in our life has taught us and realize that we cannot stay in one season. Just as there are four seasons in a year, there will be many different seasons of our lives. It is up to us to embrace each season and fully live in each one.
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" -Ecclesiastes 3:1
