HOME

i just can't wait to see these faces in ONE. WEEK!!

it's been about 3 months since i have seen them last, which feels like forever ago...but on the other hand i really can't believe that this semester is almost over and i will be moving out in a few weeks (yikes!)

homesickness has come and gone in different ways for me during college...my first semester of freshman year was interesting because i wasn't really homesick until the very end of the semester. i think i was so absorbed with the "newness" of living on the east coast, exploring the area, and seeing how different everything looked. second semester was definitely harder (the winter gloom certainly did take its toll on me), but it was helpful to come home for spring break and make the semester seem a little shorter.

this semester i have felt homesick more so than last fall since last year my family came out for homecoming weekend. while it is difficult to be so far away from my family, it is so much more exciting to come home when you have been gone for longer periods of time. i am really looking forward to thanksgiving this year and have so much to be thankful for. i am excited to see some of my extended family, to cook and bake with my mom and libby (maybe kelsey will enter the kitchen if we entice her in some way ;)), chat with my Dad, and see kelsey's new college home.

my friend, hilary, who is studying abroad in DC this semester, wrote something really beautiful in her blog recently (well, actually all of her blog posts are great because she can express things so well!) about travel and home that i absolutely loved. she asks

"why do we travel? it complicates everything...maybe we travel to know what we love in the place we left behind us. maybe we travel because God has made a big wide world and wants us to enjoy it. maybe we travel because it helps us find echoes of ourselves in unexpected places. i hope that i continue to travel for all these reasons, but most importantly i hope i continue to travel to change the meaning of home."

i love how she says "echoes of ourselves in unexpected places" because i have experienced this living in massachusetts. i've found a new "home" in wenham: when i fly into logan airport i am excited to drive along the highway and see the exit signs for "Gloucester" and "Peabody" that have become so familiar to me. i feel at home when i am in the presence of my friends and i feel at home when i am studying in jenks, sitting in chaps or running to west beach. home for me is starting to mean different places and people, and i am grateful to know that God is with me in the midst of that transience, moving, discerning, discovering, and learning...because as fun and exciting as traveling and new things are, there is always a part of me that is homesick and longing for regularity and familiarity. exploring is exciting, but the leaving is always bittersweet.

so, i am excited to be going home. to be with my family and friends who have known me for most of my life and to eat turkey and stuffing around the table laughing and sharing stories. but i'm grateful that as i travel and experience new things, i don't do it alone. God is always faithful to lead me to people and fellowship that helps me to transition and grow, and to show me how much i need him, no matter where my home is.