April, and my return home from Georgia, bring a new beginning, and the end of a chapter of my life. As I look back over the last months (19 weeks) of being back in the states, I see that they have been their own chapter of transition.
I have taken the time to adjust to working a regular job again (waiting tables at my former place of employment); I have little by little noticed the changes in my heart and perspective that cause me to respond to life in a new (and more beautiful) way; I chose my priorities for that time period and stuck to them – investing in my family and not in making money and am fully rewarded for that; I have been welcomed back to my home church, met with folks, shared life and been encouraged, hopefully encouraging them; I took the time to settle back down to certain realities of American life, namely the pace of life here, but with a new perspective and the choice to not be swept away by it; I have thought often of the things I wish to do, but didn’t focus on, such as visiting new churches to make some more friends and find a community of young people to which I can belong, or start looking at homes to buy to ‘see what’s out there right now’ (plenty, by the way).
But now the time has come to shift slightly. A number of issues have brought this sense of movement to my spirit. Some things are very practical, and then there is just the knowing that it’s a new season.
Show Choir season is finished, so my weekends are now more open to work; I have resigned at Starbucks in order to focus more at my other job, so I am entering a season of ‘full time’ work, which I haven’t yet really done. I can now begin to save some money and more seriously look at buying a house down the road.
After several months of thinking of visiting other churches, I am ready to step out in faith and go. Just to be clear, I am not seeking other churches in order to necessarily leave Des Moines Fellowship, and I am certainly not unhappy with it. I just realize that I am in a different stage of life than the majority of people there, and I am excited to find young people who are in a more similar stage as myself. I have had ‘chance’ encounters with a couple young ladies which have given me hope that there are plenty of those people out there. 🙂 I recognize the ‘risk’ in this, and that it may not always be fun…meeting new people can be intimidating, and I will likely meet quite a few before I find some ‘kindred spirits’, but I’m ready to face that. Being with great community down in Gainesville for a couple days reminded me that it’s truly worth it.
I can’t even begin to say how much I have enjoyed being with my family since I have been home. My relationships with each person has grown, as they have gotten older, and I now more greatly appreciate them. My younger siblings seem less like my little siblings than my friends, which is so fun! I love being able to just be with my older sister and her kids, and I’m deeply, madly in love with my niece, who has given me new perspective and responsibility in life. I am not a mom yet, but an aunt, and that holds incredible responsibility to live like Jesus, to show who He is to her, and pray that she too falls in love with Him. I guess it’s good practice for being a mom. 🙂
This new season brings with it an excited anticipation to see what’s coming next, as I continue to enjoy every moment with my family, work full time, and begin a new adventure pursuing more relationships and friendships that will mutually encourage growth in the Lord.
