Well, it’s our last
full week here in the States. That is so hard to believe. Finals are complete,
and I am officially a college graduate. Jonathan handed in his last paper
yesterday so he is now a seminary graduate. We have both worked long and hard
to reach that goal and now it’s still surreal that we have reached it.
Now that classes are
over, our campus is like a ghost town. Many of the students have headed home
for Christmas and won’t be back until January. It’s weird to walk down empty
halls and not see a mass of bodies sitting behind desks listening to lectures
from our professors. Jonathan and I go about our normal work but knowing in the
back of our minds that tomorrow is our last day. It’s the strangest surge of
emotions; a mixture of excitement, grief, joy and sadness. We love our job and
our time here in the States. We are sad to see it end, but we have a nervous excitement
about what lies ahead.
There is a sense of
completion in the air this week; a completion of school, of work, of our season
here in the States. It is like a leaf falling from a branch of a tree and
hitting the ground. It stays there for a little while before the wind blows it
away. That is where we are. We have completed our life on the branch and are
now awaiting the wind to (literally) carry us to the Dominican Republic.
I sit here with my
hands wrapped around a warm mug of tea looking out the window at the lights of
the city…this city which I have called “home” for two and a half years, this
city where I met and married my beloved. It’s strange to think that these
lights will soon be replaced with lights 1600 miles away. I will most likely
still have my hands wrapped around a warm cup of tea as I look out at them
there too. It makes me think about what Adonai sees. Does He see us like I see
the city lights? Does He see us move like I see the headlights of cars travel
up and down the highway? Does He feel removed from the busyness of our lives
like I feel as sit here and just watch? But I digress…
However,
something else I think about is the weather in the DR. I hate the cold and last
weekend with the cold, windy, snowy days were not pleasant for me. I used to
not mind it as much but as I have gotten older I just really hate it. Why I
briefly considered going to Fairbanks, Alaska for school I have no idea,
Cincinnati is cold enough for me! I look forward to not needing layers of
clothing and a heavy coat to just go outside in winter, 65 degrees is wonderful
to me!
I am
seeing “memories” pop up in my Facebook feed about my trip to the DR at this
time last year. I remember thinking then the probability of moving was strong
but I thought it would be May of 2016, not December of 2015. Which leads me to reflect
on the massive changes 2015 held for me; engagement, marriage, graduation,
international move….all within 10 months. It was a busy and change filled year,
but I would not change anything about it, and it all started with my trip to
the Dominican Republic last year. If I had felt like this is not where Adonai
wants me, there would have been no engagement or marriage. It’s strange to
realize just how different everything is now… wow.
We
will start our intensive packing in a few days and our room will soon be very
bare. It will bring home the absoluteness of our move even more. We have
nothing to distract us now that school and work are finished. Once we clock out
tomorrow there will be another sense of completion and a sense of urgency to
finish preparing for our departure. I do find it interesting though that our
season in the States comes to an end on Dec. 31st and our life in
the DR begins on Jan. 1….just an interesting detail.
With
all the changes going on there is at least one consistent…a hungry husband! So
with that in mind, I’d better finish this post. Good-bye until next week…
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