Adjusting

Hey everyone...I realize it's been forever since I posted to this blog, but I just wanted to give my faithful readers an update on life after Uganda. I got home in May and went to Milligan right off to see some good friends graduate. From Milligan, I went home to Kentucky. But over the first month I was home, I travelled A LOT. I went to Myrtle Beach for a Bachelorette party, to Milligan for a wedding, to North Carolina for a wedding...you get the picture. I've finally reached the age when a lot of my friends are getting married and starting families--it's crazy!! I'm certainly not at that stage in my life yet. I'll settle for being a late bloomer :)

After travelling nonstop for so long, it was nice after the first week of June to settle in at home in Kentucky. I really enjoyed spending time with family and friends this summer, getting plugged back into Capital City (my home church). The summer was restful for me. I worked a little as a lifeguard at the YMCA, but mostly I just invested in relationships, which was what I had been doing in Uganda for four months. Over the summer I had some minor instances of reverse culture shock. Some things I struggled with were seeing all of the media violence: movies, tv, video games, etc. I hadn't seen any of this in four months, so it was hard at first. The American food made me sick for a couple of weeks while I adjusted back to how processed and heavy everything here is. I also missed my family in Uganda a lot--after living with them for so long it was hard to suddenly be so far away. But there were plenty of things I enjoyed having again, mainly running water, hot showers, baths, etc.

In July, I did a SportQuest mission trip in Indianapolis with some good friends from the States and from Belgium that I have worked with in the past. It was good to be involved in some service after having a pretty lethargic summer. I had a really refreshing time serving with my Christian brothers and sisters and hope to see them again sometime in the near future, though I'm not sure how...after SportQuest, I went to Idaho with my family for a family reunion (so it was travelling again!!). The reunion was great--God has blessed me with a wonderful extended family.

Finally, in mid-August, I returned to Milligan after being away for around 8 months. And things have certainly changed. Most of my close friends have graduated and moved on, and Abby, my lovely roommate, is abroad in Egypt this semester. I miss her dearly! I'm living in the dorm on freshman row (pretty literally) so I'm surrounded by new faces. It has been a challenge for me this semester to find friends and live in community. Uganda taught me the value of organizing life around community above all else, but I am having to find community in unexpected places since my previous community has mostly dissolved. But God is really working through this with me and I'm growing.

I've had the worst of reverse culture shock in just the past few weeks. Coming back to school forced me back into an "American schedule" full of class, homework, work, and activities...without very much left over time for friends and family. In Uganda it was hard for me in the beginning to adjust to the lack of "structure"...but then I realized that I had time for people. In America now I'm resisting falling back into such a busy routine. I had a break down during week two of classes here. I've been slowly putting things back together since. Obviously, I can't quit everything and just roam around and find people to hang out with...but I have pulled back a little and am trying to really invest in activities that are important to me and let all of the sideline stuff go. Yes, class is important, but I am trying to balance class/homework with the time to rest and enjoy social activities. It's a hard balance to find, but I am doing it. And I am also trying to spend as much time as possible every week in worship, scripture, and prayer. I'm realizing that making my relationship with Christ primary helps put everything else in perspective.

So that's life. I have two semesters of school left, and then I am looking to take some time off to do some missions...then probably I'll go into grad school. But I am not overly concerned with the future. I'm confident it's in God's hands and he'll show me where to go when the time comes. So why worry?