Sitting curled up with a couple sweatshirts on and enjoying some music via Pandora Radio made me a little reflective this afternoon. I've been thinking about the last few years and all that's happened. Life has changed so much since the summer I turned 21.
Five years ago I was sitting curled up with a blanket working on a puzzle and watching Princess Bride. Not too uncommon, except for the fact that I was in Central Asia, experiencing my first Christmas away from home. I remember being really lonely. Not wanting to be over with the Neuharth's too much (They were my host family)because I wanted them to be able to enjoy family time without a guest, at least for a while.
I had been living in the Neuharth's guest house for about four months. I greatly enjoyed living nearby and teaching in the school where all four girls attended. Such a huge responsibility for someone with little experience teaching and even less teaching in a school.
A year later, December 2006, I was returning home from a semester at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. Again, I was struggling with loneliness. I felt like a failure as I wasn't returning to TWU the next semester, but rather returning to Mt. Hood Community College. I had decided I wasn't going to be a high school math teacher. I wasn't sure what else I was going to do and felt really lost.
However, God seemed to close the door to TWU at just the right time. About a month and a half after coming home from Trinity I started attending a college group. The second week I was there I met Luke, just after his 23rd birthday. Four months later we were dating.
Christmas 2007 I was hopeful for the future. Still, I wasn't completely sure what direction I was heading. I had finished my Associates Degree, but what was next?
Christmas 2008 Luke and I were in a fog of wedding plans and stress, only a month to go til our wedding day. Trying to make it through all the holiday events as well as stay partially sane was starting to get overwhelming, until God decided it was going to snow. Because of the snow we were able to have a simpler Christmas. Luke took the bus out Christmas Eve and was able to spend Christmas day with my family.
Christmas 2009 I thought would be a simple one. Considering we didn't have wedding plans to stress us out. However, being married, as it turns out, adds about triple the Christmas responsibilities. :)
We ended up going to about 9 of the 11, or so, Christmas gatherings, and on top of that, we had our car broken into. It was a very busy few weeks.
This Christmas season we are trying to keep things as simple as possible. And as for the future, there are a lot of unknowns. Definitely a time where Luke and I are needing to rely on God. I am anxious, worried, stressed, and excited about what our future holds. I know it can change so quickly, as the last five years has shown.
There are so many blanks in this brief overview of the last five years. I hope it makes a little sense.
Thanks for taking time to read through this...
...oh, and
Merry Christmas!
