In Which the Minds Wander...

It's here.  The end of a time.  The beginning of a time.  Our small town days in the Bible belt are behind us, and NYC days will face us in just a couple hours.  Our perspective is about to change...

The end of of a time is a strange thing.  It brings feelings of sorrow at the things that will be no more.  Feelings of subtle fear for the unknown to come.  Feelings of regret, at all the things I wished I had done for and with people in the last time.  Feelings of giddy excitement at the unknown and adventures before us.

But most of all, I am resting here.  At peace.  I have faith the same God who provided, guided, and grew us through the last age, will be faithful again.  I have faith that the calling He has placed on my life is the thing He has deemed to glorify Him most.  I have faith that in the same way that resurrection brings new life and joyous things, the new life ahead of me will do the same.  I will face the next "hardest" year of my life, and in that place, God will be greater still.  I will face new people to love, and by God's grace the willingness to let Him love through me.  I will face the reality of all the things I really DON'T know, revel at the wisdom of my parents and mentors, and learn again, to humbly seek their wisdom and knowledge.

The "practical" reality is that I'll be living in a big city.  With no car.  80 square feet of space to share with my bro.  A brand new job.  A new church.  No friends starting off, no family to greet you with a huge hug.  Literally in a foreign world...

But here, I Am, am I...to seek, to serve, to glorify.

~Monica

What am I feeling? A little anxiety, a little curiosity, and a lot of excitement. Anxious, not for me, but for my family. Why? Because they will miss me, they will miss Monica. While not a tight-knit family unit, we certainly are still quite fond of each other. I've spent my entire growing up life living in the country or country suburbs. Now I am literally moving to an entirely different world. To that end I feel excitement and certainly curiosity. I don't know what it's like, a big city. I've been in them, around them, but never a part of them. People say they have a life of their own, a beating heart that makes up the core of that mass of living people arranged in such close proximity. What is it to be one of them? To walk among millions and yet be alone? To tread the concrete paths of the urban jungle? To understand the saying "a city that never sleeps"? Heard the expression the sidewalks roll up at 8:00? Well they do in the Midwest. People are slow, steady, hard working, and straight up friendly. What are these creatures of NYC? A different breed at least. One I will like? Dislike? Time will answer that. What if I love it, and never want to leave? What if I hate it, and want to leave as quickly as I'm capable of doing? Unknowns meander into every empty corner of my wandering mind. And yet - this is adventure! Much as the Marco Polo's, the Christopher Columbus's, the Daniel Boone's. The thirst, the drive to explore, to discover. What is beyond us? What is this new life, this new challenge? I know it not and yet I want to know it, to experience it, to be a part of it. A new chapter in a long book largely filled with cows and dark basement spaces. NYC, I extend my hand of friendship. Let's be cordial pals, and maybe even good friends. After all, Adventure is Out There!

~Greg

P.S. Airplane seats are still uncomfortable.