Unexpected

I love friends.  This is not a new thing to me.  What is new is loving them so much that even when we are apart for a day or two I get a little... well... depressed.  Depressed is a poor excuse for a word to describe my state right now.  I'm not incredibly down trodden, unable to eat, uninterested in activities.  Certainly not a clinical definition by any means.  I'm just... off.  I keep thinking, "Oh, I could ask so and so about... No I can't.  They're gone for the weekend." It's not my normal state of affairs.  Even when I get home sick and miss my family terribly, I have the ability to find something to do which at least takes my mind off my sadness.  But when the people I go spend time with in order to not focus on missing people are the people that are gone... well, things get a little weird.

This most unexpected state of affairs has led me back to the fact that I have made amazing friendships here at school.  The people I am currently missing have been such a blessing and I cannot describe to you the impact they have had upon my life over the past few, very short months.  They have left a lasting impression and helped me understand what it is to have brothers and sisters.  They have annoyed me.  They have made me angry.  They have saddened me.  They have confused me.  They have made me smile and laugh (I'm pretty sure I have lost weight just from laughing, by the way).  They have made me think.  And they have shown me what the love of Jesus looks like lived out.

Whatever the coming days hold for me, I know that these wonderful people will have made it possible for me to walk that road.  And this is most unexpected.

Obviously my parents, my extended family, and my friends back in Michigan have also had an impact, and I hope none of you think that in saying what I have said so far that I am minimizing my relationship with you.  Each and every one of you has been important and special in my life.  To deny that would be foolish.

But I have never been in an environment where there were so many like minded people with whom I could share life.  And I have never been in such a tight knit community.  This is an amazing opportunity to let God build into my life through people.  And it is most unexpected.

I don't know what I expected when I came out here.  I just knew I was supposed to go.  But I certainly never anticipated that in the matter of 3 months I could grow so close to so many people I had never met before.  I didn't expect that I would be sitting at my computer on a Friday night typing a blog post to fill time that would normally be spent with some very dear friends.  So now I'm off to spend time building into some other friendships that are also very important but have not yet been quite so deep.   We'll see what happens, but I'm sure it will be most unexpected.