it feels like home to me

Sitting in Dulles Airport was not my intended time to write a blog, but when you're flight's delayed for 2 hours, suddenly you have so much time!  Hurricane Sandy just swept through the east coast, and I have to say it was rather anti-climatic, at least it was here in Virginia.  Williamsburg is usually hit pretty bad by hurricanes (we were evacuated for hurricane Irene last year), and all they got was some rain.  Up here in DC, we had more rain and wind, but nothing even close to the effects of other hurricanes like Isabel and Charlie.  But, my flight was cancelled on Monday, and so I find myself sitting in the airport two days later, writing a blog.

This past weekend was Homecoming weekend at William & Mary.  It was so wonderful to be back on campus, but also very surreal.  I felt like I was home in many ways, but it felt very different - like a home that wasn't really home anymore.  I just knew in the back of my mind that I would be leaving in two days.  That I was not a W&M student anymore.  That, in a sense, I didn't belong there.  Don't get me wrong, I loved being there.  And I wanted very much to just stay and be a student there again - to re-enroll in classes and be in Orchesis again.  But, as my friend remarked to me, I actually do not want that.  I would be weird for me to be back at W&M without everyone that I know there; without it being my time.  And I know that, but the wishful thinker in me just wants us all to be seniors again.  Why do we have to grow up?

Some quick highlights of the weekend:  strolling through CW, seeing some very dear friends (RUF friends, Orchesis loves, and even my Sinfoni-family!), seeing Orchesis in Dancevent 2012 (definitely my favorite part of the weekend), and wandering around campus.  I miss being there so much - not just the school, but the town as well.  Because I was so involved in the life of the community in my last semester, I feel very connected to Williamsburg, not just the campus.  Honestly, I can see myself living in the Tidewater area at some point in my life - I would love to work with the families down in the peninsula.  The eastern peninsula of Virginia is by far the poorest part of the state, and I would love to be a part of serving and rebuilding that community.

Home Sweet Home

I've never been so happy to make the long trek from Concourse C to the Main Terminal in Dulles Airport.  There a couple of airports that I could probably walk in my sleep (Dulles and Denver), and the familiarity of it all was so wonderful.  Who'd of thought that I would feel so at home in an airport?
As I right this, I am sitting in a Panera (also known as the St. Louis Bread Company), taking advantage of their free WIFI service.  My house currently does not have internet - talk about living in the dark ages! - and it amazes me how much we really do rely on it for communication.  I felt so out-of-the-loop for not checking my GMail or Facebook for 3 days!  When I think about it, I've had an email address of my own for over half of my life (anyone else remember those AOL dial-up days?), and my family has had a computer for about as long as I've been alive.  Granted, I realize that we were ahead of the times 20 years ago, but it's still weird to think that I've never known a time where a PC (or a Mac) was not available to me.  Going without Internet in recent days has really shown me how privileged I've been.

Ashburn, I am so excited to be spending the next 4 days here.  I've missed this place so much.
MPC, it was so wonderful to be back last Sunday.  I don't know if I'll ever find a church that I love as much as you in St. Louis.
William & Mary, my home away from home, see you on Friday!  I know that it will be different now that I'm not a student - but there have been so many times that I have looked for glimpses of you at Covenant, and just haven't seen it.  I need to see my W&M family again - you are such a big part of who I am.

Oh, it is so sweet to be home :)

it's like my ipod's stuck on replay, replay

For some reason unbeknownst to me (probably a combination of reasons, actually), I've been feeling anxious lately.  Anxiety is not a feeling that I commonly experience, so it really grabs my attention.  I could go into all of the reasons why I think I'm feeling anxious:  school, the future, being in a new place, etc. but it's late, and those aren't really the reasons I sat down to write tonight.
Keeping all of that in mind, quick shift in gears.  I tend to get songs stuck in my head on a rather frequent basis.  Sometimes they stay for a couple of hours, sometimes days.  Most of the time, it just has to do with what has been playing on the radio, or at work (when I was working retail), or recently on my ipod.  But then there are other times that a song will just come into my head for absolutely no reason - I haven't listened to it in months!  I have to believe that these aren't just coincidences, especially since they usually have to do with things that are really weighing on my heart.  Well, this week, a throwback to my middle school/early high school years has been playing in my head - and I have to believe that it's in response to the anxiety I've been feeling:

"Lord, I don't know where all this is going

Or how it all works out

Lead me to peace that is past understanding

A peace beyond all doubt"

- Newsboys

I've known that my head is 70% filled with useless movie quotes and song lyrics for a while (trust me, my sister and I can basically recite every Lord of the Rings movie).  But I never thought that this seemingly wasted space would actually prove to be a blessing.  More than once, it's provided me with so much comfort - expressing feelings that I can't find the words to say.  This week has just been one of those weeks where I actually appreciate the "wasted space."

Precious Moments

I'm currently procrastinating writing a journal entry for one of my classes, and I wanted to share two moments that absolutely touched my heart over the past week or so:
1.  Two seven-year-olds, Josie & Celesté, frequently come to our apartment to chat with me and my roommates.  These two girls are seriously some of the cutest kids I have ever met!  The other day, Josie ran up to me and said:  "Miss Sarah! I missed you so much! I cried at school today because you weren't there."  My heart melted.  They've also promised to buy me an American Girl doll for my birthday (clearly no concept of how much they cost!), and have officially adopted me as their step-sister (the nice kind, not the Cinderella-kind).  Too cute.
2.  Today, I was swinging on the swing-set on campus (one of my favorite past-times), and a 6-year-old named Hudson came up and started swinging next to me.  First of all, he was carrying a home-made shield (he gets so many awesome-points for that!).  And second of all, he was singing some pop song from the radio (that comes into play later).  After going through what we're going to be for Halloween (he's going to be a king, hence the shield; and he told me I should be Rapunzel), our favorite colors, and how to make a homemade shield, I asked him what song he was singing.  He couldn't remember the name of it, so I asked him to sing another one of his favorite songs.  His response:

"Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number so call me maybe?  It's hard to look right at you baby, but here's my number so call me maybe?  Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number so call me maybe?  And all the other boys try to chase me, but here's my number, so call me maybe?"

One of my favorite things about living on campus at Covenant is getting to interact with the families and kids.  There is a playground in the middle of campus, so the kids run all over the place, and are just SO PRECIOUS!