I can remember the first time I really got to talk with Lea. It was over coffee, sitting in Starbucks, and we were quietly whispering the intimate details of our lives to each other. She’d just transferred to Radford and her life had just been flipped upside down by the Gospel. We had just met and she was sharing and sharing about how God had met her here at Radford, through Cru. She’d been at school for about a week and a half and everything had shifted. And looking back, two and a half years later, that is so fitting that that was our first conversation. Because it’s exactly what I’ve come to know of our relationship since then. Always the same. Over coffee. In Starbucks. Quietly sharing the inner most details of her heart. Seeing her be changed by Grace and more and more in love with Jesus. It’s been a privilege and a high honor to get to be a part of her life.

When I first met Lea, I would’ve assumed she was quiet, shy, and that she kept to herself. And now? I would never say ANY of those things :] She’s outgoing, bold, fierce, passionate, beautiful, hilarious, and a million other sweet things. She loves really, really hard and she’s grown an incredible amount since she came here. She’s almost unrecognizable from the woman she was when I met her and it’s because she’s been changed by Love. Little tiny degrees of glory. Ever changing. And I know that doesn’t stop here. She’s going to keep growing and growing into who she’s supposed to be and I’m going to see that…it just might be from farther away now :/

One of the greatest joys in my life has been that I get to be in a mentor relationship with college women. Sending another one out is so bittersweet. And as much as it’s sad, it’s so, so worth it to see her leave as more of who she’s supposed to be. Meet my gorgeous, free spirited friend Lea! She’s the best!

So pretty!

Lea’s a writer and a poet and an avid journaler so we brought he journals along from her time at Radford :]

This is one of my favorite spots on campus!