Coming and Going

Hello Friends and Family!

As I write you I am sitting outside in the sun with the beach one block in front of me. I don’t know where home is for me anymore, but I do know its good to be here and I realize that a part of me will always be a Californian girl.

To my family, extended and nuclear, it has been a pleasure to spend time with you and ever time I come home I stand in awe of what God is doing in our family, sometimes even through pain and brokenness. Especially encouraging are my parents changing views on how they want to spend their life, and some of my cousins who have dedicated their lives to serving God wherever they are, and conversations with my grandparents. I love all of you and can’t believe I have such an amazing support system, you will always be a part of my life no matter where I go.

To my friends in Chicago, I am sure I don’t even realize yet the kind of impact you have all had on me. I have appreciated every conversation, every cup of coffee, every hug and every smile. I hope to stay friends with you and to see you again sometime in the future, meanwhile, lets stay in touch!

The end of my semester ended like a beautiful piece of music. Beautiful, happy, sad, graceful and yet quite fitting and appropriate. I made some of my best friends this last semester and became better friends with some people from last semester. Having lost my job was a blessing and a curse, to use the cliché. Obviously funds are tight now, but I would not have sacrificed that for the time I was able to spend investing in relationships. I was able to be available to people who God put in my path and every where I turned I found myself in an intense conversation about what someone is going through and decisions my friends were making. I am thinking especially of Lauren, a friend from Loyola was is now following Christ, and Amy a friend working in the city who is now one of my best friends and on a journey of her own. I am going to miss being with Loyola students and the other Moody students who would hang out with them. We had an epic ugly sweater/dance party just before I left. I will miss ex-moody friends Megan and Alora to whom I was thankful for out-of-the-dorm sleep over parties, tea and rich conversations. One of the last night I was there I enjoyed desert and a lovely evening on the 95th floor of the hancock building with a group of my friends. Reasons to stay in Chicago kept pouring over me towards the end of the semester, a beautiful city, wonderful friends, a great church, great ministry opportunities and wonderful professors. Yet through it all I was happy to enjoy Chicago, while still be looking forward to seeing my family, and after that going to Spokane.

I am excited for whatever the next phase of life God has for me. It will be quite different from my expectations I am sure, but I am also sure Moody Chicago is not a good fit for me at this time in my life. Hopefully a bit more freedom, time and space will be a healthy environment for me to learn more about who God is and his relationship to me.