Thoughts

Hello from the States! Yes, I’m still here. I have been meaning to sit down and write a post for, well about two months now (have I really been back that long?!), but it’s hard to get inspired to write when my life is seemingly normal. Well, I’m not sure I can use the word “normal.” My life seems to steer pretty clear of that. But in comparison to wandering around Europe with a backpack and no agenda my current life is very much normal.

Being home has been both really good and really hard, but mostly good. Christmas break was amazing. Like seriously, the best. It was so good to spend quality time with the fam and all my crew from high school. We spent so much time playing games, eating food and just being together. I really couldn’t have picked a better time to come back. The beginning of January hit hard. Real hard. Almost everyone left and I was here feeling like I was in the exact same place I was this time last year. Just working with no real plan for my life. I spent a few rough days feeling sorry for myself before I straightened out and realized I was being absolutely ridiculous. After all, last year did turn out to be pretty freakin’ sweet, so why not believe the same and more for this year? And so I’ve decided to re-release myself to the winds; to that crazy, no agenda life where anything can happen. This should be easy for me seeing as I’m not married, I don’t have kids and I have a job I can take anywhere. Yet, unfortunately, in our structure-filled culture this isn’t such an easy lifestyle, but I do believe it is a mentality that we are to stand on. Wild and free. Whatever that looks like. Believe it or not I do actually have my next venture planned out. Well, perhaps it’s more than just a venture. This time it won’t just be me and my backpack, but also my car and my snowboard and well, everything else I own. Colorado seems to be calling my name. Let’s backup a bit-

I think it was about August when I first became intrigued with the idea of moving to Colorado. Of course at that point I was pretty set on staying in Europe forever so I kind of threw it in the back of my head. But as time went on I couldn’t really get rid of it. Like most of my life, there’s not logic behind it. I have family there who have been bragging on their state for years, and I do love mountains. Aside from that I don’t really know what has me so intrigued, but I’m going with it! And this time I’m not going solo! Let me tell you how cool God is; throughout high school I had this amazing friend, Kelly. We took home-school classes together and played on the same volleyball team. Unfortunately, when I moved to Wilmington we totally lost touch. I literally hadn’t talked to her in three years, but for some reason sometime in November I could not stop thinking about this girl. I knew I was supposed to connect with her, but had no clue why. So I messaged her from England asking if she would be around over Christmas break (I didn’t even know where she was living). We met up the first week in January and it felt like we had just seen each other the week before. She filled me in on her life, which aside from traveling sounded a lot like mine, and told me she was finishing up an internship and wasn’t clear on the next step. I then filled her in on my life and then told her I was planning to move to Colorado. When I said that she stared at me with this look of, “Are you kidding me??!” and told me that just the day before she had told her brother she was moving to Colorado. She, like me, had no agenda and no set city in mind. Just intrigued with an idea and going with it. How crazy is that? So right then and there it was decided we would go together. We plan to move out there early summer, but we are both going out in March to scope out the lands. So, so stoked!

In January my sweet Irish sister, Sarah came to the States. She stayed in Knoxville with our house parents from Mozambique so I made the trek over to see them. It was so amazing to be together and reminisce on the days that we lived in a two bedroom house with 13 girls, 1 guy and a cat. But even more-so than that it was amazing to see what a beautiful community looks like. Melody and Spencer, my house parents, live at the Banks house (for those that are familiar with United Pursuit Band, this is where it started). They have one of those houses that people are constantly in and out of, eating together, playing games together, worshiping together, and simply doing life together. After Knoxville I, along with my mom and two of my brothers, went to Oklahoma to visit my oldest brother, Josiah, and his amazing family. They have the most incredible kids. I could literally snuggle with them forever. They all go to a huge church out there that they absolutely love. They’ve done an excellent job at submerging themselves into this beautiful community of people all passionate for the same things. As much as I loved my solo days in Europe, I didn’t realize till recently just how desperate I am for good community. That, above all, is my dream for the year. To find a group of people who know how to do family well. I had a friend the other day tell me that in order to find that I should probably stay in one place for longer than a few weeks. A sad fact, but probably true. Guess I better like Colorado!

I’m trying my hardest not to get caught up in the mundane. My life is still an awfully big adventure, it just looks a little different than it did before. But they say the best is yet to come and I’m standing on that. C’mon glory!!

Favor is such a beautiful thing. I still can’t believe I got to travel around Norway and Sweden with my mom. I’m sorry, that is just too cool! We had such a good time! As it turns out Scandinavia is WAY more expensive than any place I’ve been. For both of us to stay in a hostel it would cost almost as much as a decent hotel in the States. No thanks. So aside from one night in a hostel and two nights on a train, we stayed at peoples homes through a site called airbnb.com. Similar to couch surfing, but you’re actually paying for a room, not just a free spot on a couch. The first place we stayed was in Gothenburg, Sweden. We were hosted by the sweetest girl who gave us full access to her cute little Ikea decorated home. My mom lived in Gothenburg when she was a teenager so we had fun exploring the same streets that she used to explore. Our next destination was Bergen and there we stepped into a higher level of favor. The lady who’s home we were staying at was out of town so she gave us the keys and told us to make ourselves at home. Upon arriving in Bergen we found ourselves walking up the cutest path and into the coziest house that there ever was with a beautiful view of the North Sea. The owner had just left earlier that morning so we walked into a fire going and pancakes on the counter. I’m telling you, favor is wonderful.

I have to give my mom some major credit. She is a trooper! Guys, I am not an easy person to travel with and having been on my own for over two months has only made matters worse. I never really know where I’m going but wherever it is I want to get there fast. And then once I get there I probably won’t want to stay very long cause I’ll be ready for the next thing- whatever that may be. Then there’s my mom and she is…well, not the fastest of people. Not that she can’t move fast cause she totally can, she just knows how to really enjoy beauty and all its little details. Literally, all of them. Like the lines on the floor giving the whole house a rustic feel, and the star hanging in the hall just waiting for someone to place a candle inside so it can illuminate the darkness and bring a sparkling light. These are things I never would have noticed. Not in a million years. But I actually think these little details are crucial, especially when traveling. If you don’t notice the detail and take in the richness then it all gets boring pretty quickly. Like castles for example. I have visited so many castles while on this trip and after a while it starts to loose its spark. A castle is a castle is a castle, but castle with a marble staircase that spirals upward towards a ceiling that is decorated with magical paintings that are dripping with history and all being held up by stone pillars that have been standing for hundreds of years- that is something entirely different. But if we do not notice the detail then that same castle is only a castle.

Back to Norway- that country is seriously doing something right. We came across the most friendly and most beautiful people that there ever was. Literally every single person in that country is gorgeous. On Sunday’s everything closes down (literally, everything) practically forcing people to get outside and be productive. The entire town of Bergen was outside on Sunday either walking, running or hiking. AND all they eat is dairy and bread. Seriously, I love their ways. On our last full day we planned to take a day train from Bergen to Oslo. However, my great last minute booking skills gave way and we were stuck having to take a night train (the second of our journey. I told you, my mom’s a trooper). So anyway, that gave us another full day in Bergen with no agenda. The weather in Bergen is completely unpredictable. It is actually the sister city to Seattle and these sisters certainly love rain. However, The Lord lavished even more favor on us and we ended up having the most beautiful day. We went into town with the intention of doing a short hike up a mountain over the city. Four hours later we found ourselves with a 360 degree view that totally blew our minds. The North Sea on one side, and endless mountains on the other. Norway is amazing. Hiking up we really had no idea where we were going we just wanted to get high. Seeing as neither of us could read the Norwegian signs we just kept walking in the general direction of where we wanted to go-up. About mid-hike we came to an area where the path split 3 ways. In the middle was this:

If you’re looking for a sign, this is it! Simple and humorous, yet profound. I mean really, how often do we get stuck somewhere cause we don’t know where to go next? Sometimes ya just gotta go with your gut and see what happens. Like I always say, why not?

And now I am in Germany with one of the coolest cats around. I am staying with Kathi, a girl I met in the States 8 years ago and we’ve kept in touch via Facebook (praise God for social media). She mostly remembers me cause we had the same shirt- instant connection. We were destined to meet again:) We’ve spent the last few days sitting on trains, visiting shopping malls, and eating proper German food. It’s been so good! Then next week I am off to the Netherlands to see Gillian, my sweet sweet Irish friend from Harvest School. So much glory awaits! Oh how I love favor.