Monday, December 22, 2008

HOME SWEET HOME...

So it's December 22 today and I am finally home. Home... as in Wetumpka, Alabama. However, the past couple of weeks the Lord has shown me an entire new perspective of what the word, "home" really means. Here is what home has looked like over the past couple of weeks. The next few blogs will feature bits and pieces of what I feel makes up home for me. The picture above is of my roommates. Here's a little bit about them because, they're sort of a big deal. The one pictured here with me in red is Katherine Archer. She's in her fifth year at Auburn in grad school for speech therapy. Commonly referred to as Chatty, this girl keeps me laughing. I've really enjoyed getting to know her. She's so inviting and including. She's just one of those people who just make you seem right at home in conversation. Her experience in life offers amazing advice and encouragement for me. She and I will be living in our house next semester. I'm excited to continue to grow in our friendship. The girl in the grey shirt is Katy Crane. This crazy girl is more like a roommate. She lives in the room right across from me. She may have more patience with me then anyone I've ever lived with. She puts up with the loud and unending alarms, continuous banging of doors, blaring music, and of course, just ME. Katy and I have gotten closer due to the fact that we rarely go home. We both stay in Auburn as long as we can. It's been so fun to go deeper in our relationship and see her heart for missions and for people. She just finished at Auburn and now will head to Switzerland or Australia for a semester for discipleship training through YWAM. This is an amazing opportunity for her but really stinks for me. She won't be there next semester at all so... I'm really going to miss her! The last roommate on the end in the pink shirt is Emily Stewart. Emily is a senior at Auburn and closest to my age. She just finished all her classes for Human Development and Family Studies and will study with her class in Italy next semester. Thankfully, she will be in Auburn a few weeks in January before she splits. Emily is more like the older sister for me in Auburn. Our relationship is a pretty deep one. We've had numerous conversations about the Lord and she's been an amazing influence for me this semester. Unfortunately for her, many of our conversations have included complaining, crying, looking back and selfish thoughts from me. I'm so thankful for all the advice and mentoring she's held out to me throughout the semester. All three of these girls are absolutely amazing. Look at them! Could I ask for more beautiful roommates? The semester with them has been pretty drama free with exceptions to our pet rat we like to scare each other with. This rat is so awful looking that it will never fail to result in scream or missed heart beat. The only other thing that can annoy us more is the darn door stopper in the kitchen that sticks out and makes an annoying sound when anyone hits it. We've had some mysterious events occur in the semester including cookies, a/c, dishwasher, bathroom sounds, Ellen, destroyed pumpkins, garbage fines, and other things. Overall, we had an amazing time getting to know one another this semester. I can't thank the Lord enough for such an opportunity to grow and learn from such amazing Christian women in my own house. I feel like I had to grow up a bit and at the same time add a bit of youth to the house :) Thinking of home during this holiday season allows me to miss the three girls that have really, really allowed Auburn to seem more like home for me. It hasn't been easy to adjust to another city but these girls have a lot to do with the home atmosphere that is growing in Auburn. I'm so thankful to them for allowing me to be a part of a great group of people living under one roof. I'm not looking forward to going back to our house and taking down our Christmas tree (we got a real one) and all the ornaments, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing these girls again soon. I miss them already. They definitely make up a part of my "home" this semester.