My Life After Outta Town

One of the girls from my Outta Town team, is putting together a newletter for our team. Each person was asked to put together an update on the past year, since it is nearing a year since we were all together. I started my update, and the entry that was intended on being 300 words, turned into this 800 word essay. I thought that I would share with you my reflection.

If I was to think of an analogy to compare this past year to, it could be compared to tobogganing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go tobogganing this year due to the lack of winter that I experienced, but recalling back to previous years, the memory still remains. Tobogganing is a blast and tons of fun, but at the same time a lot of work. You come to the hill that is coated with beautiful white snow, and you are all equipped for the hours of fun that you will have on that hill. You then bolt it up the hill to the top and then enjoy the ten seconds that it takes to zip over the white crest and slide to your stop at the bottom. It was almost as fantastic as a roller coaster and you are all smiles saying, “AGAIN, AGAIN!!!” You then climb back up the hill and do it again and again, but each time, the hill seems to get bigger and the flight down gets shorter. It is a lot of work, but still a lot of fun.
For me, this is very similar to my year. Outta Town was like the descent down the snow, and was a ton of fun. Coming back home was very hard to readjust, and it took a lot out of me. My true friends became obvious and reconnecting to people was very difficult. It was a very painful process trying to find purpose again and trying to find my place at home. Then God blessed me with an amazing opportunity to work for Youth For Christ for the summer. That again was like screaming on your crazy carpet. It was fantastic! I had an amazing time getting to know the kids at the center, and God gave me great satisfaction and peace throughout the summer. To end it off, my fabulous man came to visit me at the end of summer and that was marvelous!
Then once Karl left, I had to start that climb back up the dreaded mountain. Long distance with Karl became very difficult and I hit reality pretty hard! But I came to the top again and had an exquisite road trip with my darling friend Kate. We traveled across Canada for 45 days and saw God’s splendor and it was wonderful. It did go quick though and I came to the bottom of the hill again and found the dry and boring home life was back again.
I got a job working at a candle factory and it was a struggle to find satisfaction in the monotony of life. Karl came after the Christmas break and this was a testing time for our relationship. After he went back home, we went through a lot of sorting, searching and figuring. It was very, very hard and it really drained both of us and left me quite dry and exhausted. It was a struggle, but thankfully through much prayer and perseverance, God brought us through and brought me to the top of the hill.
I then cruised down the hill again and went to Uruguay, South America for a month. This was a fabulous time, but it had many of it’s own tobogganing hills, where I had many opportunities to grow, learn, be challenged and be humbled. It was a trip I’ll never forget and a time of powerful growth.
I am now at the bottom of the slope again, and am anticipating an absolutely fantastic summer ahead of me! I am turning 20 (my dream age), my dear friends who have lived in Japan for the past two years are coming home and living in my basement for the summer, and Karlos Amigos is coming to Ontario for the summer! I will hopefully get a basic student summer job that will pay for my great summer and the great year ahead of me.
In the fall, I will be going to Brock University for Child and Youth Studies. I’m not quite sure what I am going to do with that, but it will be great and I am very excited for it.
I'm sure the rest of life will be filled with tobogganing hills, mountains, slopes, and valleys. I'm excited for what God has planned and I know that the whole time, he is going to be on the back of my sled with me, enjoying, struggling and living this crazy life with me. It's going to be great!