home sweet home :]

...I’M HOME! :D

so anyways...

I got home Friday morning around 1am, after leaving Philly Tuesday night around 11:30pm, driving straight without stopping except for in Chicago for a couple hours. Needless to say, I was exhausted. The first person I saw was Becky. I jumped out of the van, practically still in motion, and jumped on her! Haha! It was so refreshing to see an amazing familiar face like hers. We didn’t get to spend much time together because I was meeting Dustin at the LiNK office, because he was picking me up. As I was about a minute away from the office, my heart starting racing & I got really nervous. I was about to see the love of my life, whom I hadn’t seen in almost 10 weeks. I turned into the parking lot, & saw him standing so beautifully against his car with his arms crossed & with the cutest grin on his face. I parked horribly, jumped out of the van & ran to him, jumped into his arms and he spun me in a circle. We hugged for a few minutes, both of us were to nervous to make eye contact, it was cute. It just was so emotionally intense to go so long without seeing such a close person to my soul and then all of the sudden seeing them. It felt as if we had just started dating again. We stayed up late, got up early, then after a few errands, spent the day together. It was perfect in every way. I love him so much. That night, Patty [his mom] made us dinner, which was nice to sit down and talk to his parents about my trip. I love their home, it feels so right when I am there :]

Saturday I woke up early and met Becky and we drove to meet up with Tran. It was so good to see Tran, but so sad at the same time. I had to say hello & goodbye in the same morning. She left for Montana for the summer. I am happy for her, but I wish she could be apart of my summer here in southern California :\ . After Tran left, Becky and I hung out with Megan! I just had such a good time being around people who get me and who love me for me. It was so amazing. We got Rite-Aid ice cream and just talked and caught up. Then we went to the Brea Mall and got our ears pierced! It was pretty impulsive, but I am glad we did :]

After that, I met up with Bea. I love hanging out with Bea for many reasons, but especially for our inside jokes, our movie quotes, our awkward facial expressions & just because I laugh more with her than with anyone else. I feel like I haven’t laughed much in the past 2 1/2 months, so it was needed. We stopped by Christine’s [a student in the youth group] 16th birthday party, then headed to Mikey’s! It was really good to see so many old friends and just hang out. I was so tired by the end of the night, but all in all, it was so good to see so many of my good friends throughout the day.

Today, I woke up early again, boo! I went to Beachpoint in HB. It was SO good. I seriously missed going to church while I was on the road. I felt right at home. Bill preached and did such a great job. I really got a lot out of it. He was talking about the conversion of Saul. He quoted C.S Lewis saying, “His compassion is our liberation”. I love it. After service, Dustin and I went to get sushi. oh my. I missed crunch rolls. The eastcoast was amazing and all, but their sushi, sucked. Well, at least compared to California :] Then we walked around the swap meet at Golden West college. I just love spending casual time with my boyfriend. He is such a blessing to me, and I can’t get enough of him! The rest of my Sunday was spent relaxing at my mom’s apartment, which has been so nice. I am back to the LiNK office tomorrow, bright & early! It’s bitter-sweet. But more sweet :] I really do enjoy the people I work with at LiNK, so it will be good seeing everyone in the office.

I want to leave you all with this illustration that I read in my friend Carolyn’s blog the other day, that I thought was so amazing. Hopefully it is encouraging to someone :

"As I came home from church one evening, I was struggling to recognize God's guidance for my life. Suddenly, I drove into dense fog and could see nothing. Poking my head out the window, I noticed a tiny light from the road ahead. As I inched my car forward, it blinked out and another set of oncoming headlights took its place some yards ahead. I crawled along, following just the short distance I could see--one light after another--until the fog cleared. Then I realized that this is how God guides me. He shows me how far I need to go at any given moment. And step-by-step, I move from one light to the next. Confident of God's guidance, I let go of the need to see his complete plan."
Dr. Helen Roseveare, a British medical missionary in Africa from 1953 to 1973


Ah, it’s SO good to be home. Love you all.