My first month in Winchester has officially come and gone,
and WOW have I enjoyed my time.
The first few days were so fun! So many new faces, yummy food,
and so many laughs, but the following week was really hard. Two of my roommates
were out of town, and the other one had to work a lot. I felt very lonely and
missed home a lot – All of my people and all of my places. I cried quite a few
times wondering if I had made the right decision in moving to Winchester. I
talked to my counselor about it (shout out to Lisa, she’s literally the best)
and she suggested trying to fill my time as much as I could. To go read
somewhere, site see (I live in a historical district so that’s neat), meet more
people and make plans with them.. So I did!
I went
to this cute ‘lil coffee shop called Hopscotch near my house. I read, wrote
letters to some friends, had some quite time, and painted. I decided this would
be my new spot – It reminds me of Scouts/Coffee Expressions from back home and
I like that. I thought about all of the time I would be spending here and felt
happy about it.
A few
days after that, I went to one of the local high schools named John Handley.
They have this big hill behind the school, and if you walk to the top of it,
you have the sweetest view of Winchester. I prayed for the kiddos there and for
the future relationships that might develop through Young Life. I prayed that I
wouldn’t compare my hometown to this new place, to not diminish it’s people and
experiences, to not put it in a box. I prayed that I would have fresh eyes and
a servant’s heart for these kids and this community.
I got a
job at Planet Fitness, and I’ve made some cool friends through that. All of the
old people who work out there always seem to love the fact that I’m from Ohio
ad laugh about how I say pop instead of soda. Also, one asked me if my car was rusty and I
told him I don’t think that’s a stereotype about people from Ohio? He laughed
and walked away, and I am still confused.
Besides
missing my people back home, I’ve learned that moving away has proved not as
scary as my anxiety tried to convince me it would be. Don’t get me wrong, some
days are really hard and I struggle with being here and my heart aches. But I’ve
realized I’m still doing a lot of the same things I did back home, here – Still
eating lots of chicken, still being weird, and still crying at cute videos of
weddings/soldiers coming home/home births. I’ve gained some new friends, new
places to hang, and a new connection to Jesus I hadn’t yet experienced. He’s
showing me what stepping out of the boat looks like – The risk in sinking, but
the reward if I try to trust Him. But mostly that He’s here either way.
But that’s all for
now! Just wanted to give a quick update on my life and to say hello. If any of
you from Ohio are reading this, please give my mom a hug for me, thanks!
