A year ago, I had been back in the States 2.5 months and struggling.
Struggling to adjust back to American culture.
Struggling at the grocery store, for with every purchase, I could not stop thinking of Bridget and other orphans in Africa.
Struggling to go shopping for clothes I needed, but with thoughts of widows and trafficked girls as an overwhelming presence.
Struggling to adjust back to American culture.
But all in all, with a year full of acclimation and struggles, it was a year of progress and beauty. I 'grew up' in many regards. I was able to step away and prioritize my life while working in Alaska. I was able to travel domestically and re-invest in the lives of my closest friends.
It was also a year in which I learned how to surrender. There were hopes of love, hopes of serving internationally, hopes of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, hopes of stability, hopes to go to grad school.
But the truth is, when I surrendered these hopes, opportunities have opened up that I had not previously thought possible. A year ago, I was living in Nashville. Four months ago, I was living in Alaska. Today, I am living in Maryland, a six-minute walk to Washington, DC. If someone would have told me a year ago that I would be working down the block from the White House, I would have laughed. And not just my polite or suppressed laugh. The cackle would have come out.
Here I am, though. I enjoy my work (at a non-profit that aims to help financially instable individuals in avoiding foreclosure on their homes and various nation-wide community development initiatives and campaigns), but more than that, I enjoy where God has me. I enjoy the people He places in my life on a daily basis. I also enjoy the countless opportunities I have to care for others and surprisingly, be cared for in return.
It has been a long road, I must admit.
Full of emotion. Full of pain. Full of discomfort. Full of grief. Full of good-byes. Full of beginnings.
But it has been the road I chose and I am excited for each opportunity and each day to come…
