Here's another paper I had to write for my english class that I thought I'd share with you. Every time we do Self-Directed Writings we break up into writing groups, and the group I was with on Wednesday was awesome... I love working with Zach, Isaiah, Kyle, and Ben. These guys always have really nice things to say and they make me feel like my writing is worth something :) Anyway, it was really cool to see what everyone wrote about because there was no prompt. The guys in my group wrote about heroes, a mom, a movie, and spring football... I chose to write about distance:
Distance
Isn’t it great how God puts things or people in your life just when you need them? Like when you are feeling really homesick and Janzow just doesn’t sound good, but it all turns out okay because you check your mail on the way inside and find a letter from Mom. Or how about when you are loaded with homework and want to cry, but then your teacher announces that your big project won’t be due for another week. Those are awesome moments. Lately, Pinterest has been doing the trick too. There always seems to be quotes and pictures reminding us that we are loved, greater than we can even imagine. Whether we are having good days or bad days, receiving good news or bad news, on the end of a surprise or scare, God’s always there. The most recent quote I’ve fallen in love with on Pinterest is: “Distance means so little when someone means so much;” it was just what I needed to hear.
I know we kids have to grow up, but for me it’s happening right now, and it is kind of scary. My older sister, Jen, just accepted her first call to teach 8th grade math at a Lutheran school in Michigan. My brother currently teaches math and coaches football at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas, Amy and I go to school here in Nebraska, and my parents are at home in California. In just a couple years Amy and I will be out on our own too! We are so far away from each other, and my biggest fear is that our family will never be the same. Is it so bad that I don’t want that to happen with us? My family loves spending time together. We siblings are each other’s best friends and we rarely fight or get in each other’s faces. My Mom and her siblings aren’t very close, and it’s the same story with my Dad. Comparing my family to others’ I have come to realize how blessed we are. My Grandma told this to my Dad when he was in college, “There’ll come a day when your family back home won’t be the most important thing to you. Eventually you’ll have a family of your own, and they’ll be your number one.” Wow, she couldn’t have said it any better. The reality in all of this is that my family won’t ever be the same, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We can stay close, and I’ll make sure we do.
Another reason why this quote hit home is because our freshman year of college is coming to an end. Friends are going home for the summer, I am going back to California, people are transferring to different schools, and it is going to be a long time until I see some of my best friends again. When we left home for school back in August, I remember thinking how am I ever going to make friends better than those that I’ve got already here at home? Wow, I couldn’t have been more wrong. There’s no way I ever could have imagined how much of an impact the friends I’ve made at Concordia have had on my life. While some of my friends back home I consider to be family, the friends I’ve made here at Concordia are lifelong friends. It’s crazy that I can even say that now as a freshman. Friends who share the same beliefs, values, and morals as you are difficult to come by these days, and they are right here at Concordia; I think that’s why I feel at home here. Knowing that I will be apart from these friends for a few months makes me sad, but the good news is that because we are such good friends, I know we’ll stay in touch, and the summer months will just fly by.
“Hold on. God knows what He’s doing,” is another favorite pinterest quote of mine, and I think it goes along quite well with this theme of distance in my life. It’s easy to say “God has a plan” but usually it’s difficult to say it and really mean it. I don’t have a good answer as to overcoming this common struggle, but every once and awhile, it just clicks for me: God loves me, He cares about me, and He knows what He’s doing.
"That's because God cares, cares right down to the last detail." -James 5:11b
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