A couple of New England days

Four years ago I posted this blog about how fantastic Boston is.

Ever since, I've talked about moving there. The summer after NYC, I went to New England for two months, which rocked my world on so many levels and brought the most amazing people into my life. I cannot imagine how different things would be if I'd have stayed in Louisiana or come back to New York that summer. Truth is, though, that love for Boston was what pushed me over the edge when making decisions about where to be a summer missionary that second year. God used images I couldn't get of my brain, baseball, people, and lots of slaps in the face to send me there.

I love the history, the ocean breezes, the accents, the scent of salt water, the seagulls, the immense passion for EVERYTHING (seriously, people in New England are passionate about anything they like- which I why I fit in so well with them). I just wish folks would transfer that passion into something like, oh, I dunno, loving Jesus. I tell you if all of the New Englanders would simply fall in in love with the Lord, they'd start workin on winning the world over so fast we wouldn't know what hit us.

I really could go on for hours and hours and hours and hours and ramble and go on and on and on and on and on about how completely flabbergasted I am in how God has brought people into my life in the last seven years from Baton Rouge, Providence, Boston, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Mississippi, etc. and twisted our lives around and intertwined them in ways that completely blow my mind. I feel like, at the root of it all, is New England. It seems to anchor all these connections somehow. Like all roads lead to Worcester or something like that.

Because of the ways God has used the next region north, I have always assumed he's going to have me land there at some point, even if only for a few years. And this may be the case. I have absolutely no opposition to it WHATSOEVER. Believe me, I'd love to go to more Red Sox games.

The point of this particular post is this: I don't think I'm moving there any time soon.

This is a new revelation. And a great one. One I've been praying for.

You see, I LOVE New York in immense ways I cannot describe. I wont even bother trying. Suffice it to say, this place feels like home and always has. I know I won't be here forever, or at least, I don't plan to be, but lately, with all the transitions in my life, I've been praying that God would show me if it is time to bow out or if it is time to settle in. And the overwhelming answer is SETTLE IN.

Having had this feeling for the past few months, and particularly since my return from Chicago, have become pretty comfortable in it. THAT SAID I knew that hopping the Lucky Star to Boston for the Red Sox game was going to be testy. I could see myself getting that same feeling I always get when I arrive at South Station, where I just KNOW I have to move there. But I didn't.

Upon my arrival, I had a couple of hours before the next train to Providence, so I prayer walked around the common, Chinatown, the meeting house, Quincy market, etc. During that time I kept praying God would show me if I was supposed to be in that city, and what needs he would reveal to me there in the meantime. I prayed and prayed and prayed, but I kept thinking "I kinda wish I was still in New York, I miss it already." This was foreign to me, I'm in BOSTON Im supposed to overwhelmingly excited to be there. But I wasn't. I loved it still, and I had a great time, but even in Fenway, it was like, God was saying "I know you love it here, but it's not the time." and I was PERFECTLY okay with that.

I'm super thankful for this trip, and the time I got to spend with Maria, who is AMAZING. I'm thankful for the long walk around Providence I took this morning (I really could write a whole post about that). I'm thankful for great weather, and Fenway Park. I'm thankful for the comfy megabus ride home (so much better than the Lucky Star ride there).

Most of all, I am thankful that God confirmed what I've been suspecting all along.

I'm right where I'm supposed to be.

Back to the Grind

After a weekend in Boston, a night in Fenway Park, a flight home, a couple of days in New Orleans , a LONG DRIVE through Texas, a week in New Mexico, another LONG DRIVE through Texas, an overnight trip to Florida, and a couple more days in New Orleans, I am BACK.

I am in the BR for the homestretch, and am excited about what is to come of it all.  In less than a week, football season will be in full swing, and I will be in a day-in, day-out routine of getting up at 5am, getting home at 4, and enjoying 7th grade gifted students and all that entails.  

I'm pretty excited about this coming semester.  I found some old books from my US Colonial-1865 class, along with some history books I read for fun from that same period.  I FINALLY have my room set up, and, after numerous trips to the Apple store to drool, I got the new computer I've been dreaming of.  

This semester is going to be challenging.  In the week I've been in Baton Rouge, I've already faced some minor setbacks that lead me to believe the upcoming few months will be full of them.  I took a couple of weeks off of running when I got back into the South, and as soon as I started back, something odd happened with my foot (possibly a pulled muscle?) and I've been unable to do so since.  I think my foot is getting better, but I'm gonna stick with the bike until I know.  This has caused a "swelling" of my legs and waist to a point that I have not been familiar with for a LONG time.  

So tomorrow, it all starts, and Tuesday, I am in the classroom for good.  The future is here, and I'm pretty excited about it.  

Pretty much, Wow

So this summer I have not been in "the city" much at all. Minus three days in Boston, a week in Providence, and a day-trip to my heart (aka, NY), I've spent most of my time in the suburbs, and in the country. Far cry from my normal "city girl" lifestyle, but fun and interesting nonetheless.

I am currently living in the basement room at a very cute old fashioned New England home, with a great family, in Hebron, CT. It's very different for me, but I'm loving it. We have a great youth group, and despite the fact that I'm only here for a short time, we've been having alot of fun throwing together events at the last minute to keep the kids occupied.

Last week we went to camp in Massachusetts, and I think I got just as much out of it (if not more) than my students did. We brought thirteen youth, and where I come from, that would fit into the smaller group category at camp. Because of the nature of New England, we were actually the average. There just aren't alot of Christians up here (approx. 1% of the population), and it's truly sad. I thoroughly enjoyed the company of the 444 people there, and the speaker was absolutely amazing. I hope to be a part of that camp again sometime. It is put on every year specifically for students in New England. They require a bit of a different focus than many of the typical Bible-belt camps students go to.

Over the next year of my life, I have many decisions to make. At camp I really felt like God was making some of those decisions clear to me, so I will be spending the next several months preparing to accomodate for said decisions. This is why I decided to start blogging again. I will also be student teaching, and then (hopefully) in January, being a teacher full-time, so I'm sure there will be many adventures to speak of and many prayers to request. I hope to keep up, because I have a habit of getting out of the habit...

New England Here I Come

I am officially arriving in Boston at 1:45 pm on June 1st! How exciting! I'm a hoping to grow even more this summer, after seeing all of the amazing things God can do through summer missions.

According to the missions coordinator, there is a good chance I will be working in more than Providence alone. I'm pretty excited about getting to explore New England doing the work God has laid out for me. It's going to be super interesting to see the need in an area that is often forgotten in the world of Christian outreach. It's great to go to the ends of the Earth, but we also need to remember the problems we have in our own backyard. America has many needs and I am excited to have the opportunity once again to help meet them.

It's been a while

Having not posted anything since the beginning of football season, I have opted to begin writing again in preparation for a possible summer in another city: Providence, Rhode Island.

Considering I haven't put anything up in a while, I'm not expecting that anyone will be reading this, but just out of pure love of writing, I am going to start again.

Now that football season is over, and we have clinched the title, I have much more free time. My fall was spent roaming about the Southeast watching battle after battle, with the emotional ups and downs that go with it. I blame my grey hair on Fall 2007.

This being my last semester before student teaching, I am in the most interesting classes I've gotten around to taking since college began. It makes me very thankful that I picked up the double major. My political science classes keep me intrigued, and my American Folklore class is sparking ideas for amazing things I can use in my lessons later in life. All of this has helped me realize that I am not in fact as lazy as I make yself out to be, and that I want to go as far as possible with my education so that I can gain the knowledge and connections necessary to fulfill my goals in pushing education reform. Right now I don't really know what that entails, but I see myself learning more about it each day, and I get excited!

Help me stay driven... This feeling tends to fade as the semester goes on.