Life Happens.

Wow. It feels like it’s been a year since I’ve sat down and written for fun. That’s probably because the last time I did was in 2017. I love writing and blogging and I’ve missed it so much, but I’ve been busy. Life happens, y’all and when it does, it has a tendency to happen quickly. Some days I would do anything for a break from the busy lifestyle I’ve chosen, but most days, I love it more than anything else in the world.

A lot of life has happened for me in 2018. I started out the year by going to my first real life, legit, the-teacher-is-right-there-in-person class. My first ever real class. I know, I’m talking crazy. I took a math class at my local community college and ended up falling in love with the atmosphere so much that it completely quelled my anxiousness about spending the next two years there to get my Associate’s Degree. I met new people, conquered fears, and also realized just how much I hated not having the ability to pick up the remote and pause my professor. (Somebody should get on making that. Billion dollar idea right there). I spent anywhere from two to four hours working on math homework every night. Oh, it was tedious. I’ve never done something that sucked all the happiness out of me like that math homework. But, by God’s grace and open book tests, I managed to pass the class in May with a 91.

The year also started out with a new job for me. I started working at the preschool at my church and boy, do I love it. If you’ve ever seen me with kids, then you know that I have a tendency to gravitate towards the preschool age group. I think that it’s a fantastic age. They have such zest and love for learning and they haven’t yet faced opposition by the world (for most of them). It’s so fun. They know no fear and the imagination they have runs wild and free, unable to be tamed. They have such possibility and promise and having the opportunity to see them grow and nurture the things that make them great makes me a better person. The four year olds have brightened my world and given me much more patience. I didn’t know I could love little humans this much and that’s why I’m leaning toward studying preschool education after community college. That’s also why I’ll be returning as a teacher this fall four days a week. I’m getting promoted from being a TA (and yes, I had no clue what a TA was until I became one and looked it up. Homeschool win, y’all)!

I got to go to a homeschool prom in March and found out about it two weeks beforehand. You talk about running around to find a dress and shoes and get my hair done, now that we were doing. But I had an amazing time and it is just as lame as they say, especially when you, your best friend, and your best friend’s mom are sitting at a table all by yourselves. The cake was good and the DJ was poppin’ though, so I didn’t mind.

In April, I had my final day of homeschool. It was strange for many reasons, but I’ll only go into detail about two of them. Firstly, I planned my schedule so I would have two exams on this day. Why I did that, nobody knows. So, I’m sitting upstairs in my bedroom taking my Bible exam and I get called downstairs to my dad’s office. I have no clue what’s going on. People in my family know that if I’m taking a test or a quiz or even studying that when concentration gets broken, it’s not getting fixed back. At this point, I’m thinking the worst. Somebody has died or something major like that and when I see the expressions on my parents’s faces, my concerns are only amplified. My dad sits me down in his office chair and tells me to read an email he has pulled up on his computer. I think it’s strange that he wants me to read a private email, but I don’t question it because of the looks on his and my mom’s faces. So I begin to read. I read faster and faster as I see words I know and love like “mission trip” and “Guatemala”. Then something amazing happens, I read the last of the email and my hand flies to my mouth trying to hide my surprised-excited tears. It didn’t work. The email said that there was a lady from my church who had been planning to go on the church’s missions trip to Guatemala. Her husband’s health had been rocky lately and she decided that she felt peace about staying home with him rather than going on the trip, but she also decided that she would pay someone’s way to go in her place. This is where I come into the the equation. The lady who is over the trip had been praying about who should go and God just kept bringing my name to her. Now, there were a couple reasons why I wasn’t going to Guatemala this year. I’m not going to go into detail about any of them, but suffice it to say that the timing and money were issues. I knew the timing could be worked out and I’m sure the money could be as well, but I had decided that it was time to move on and focus my attentions elsewhere. Then this opportunity came. Senior year had been difficult. I felt like I had no guidance, no answers, and no clarity about my future. For months I had been praying that God would give me some shred of hope that He has a plan for my life because I couldn’t see anything that resembled that. And right there in front of my eyes was the clarity and hope that I had so desperately been praying for. God had planned this whole situation to perfection and I got to be a part of it. My answer was obvious and I could not be more excited to announce my trip back to Guatemala June 23-July 1! God moves y’all!

On May 19, 2018, I officially graduated from my homeschool curriculum in Pensacola, Florida. It’s a month later, and I still can’t wrap my brain around all the amazing things that happened there. I met my video teachers, walked around the campuses of my people, and wore a skirt three days in a row. I’m not sure that last one is amazing, though. I had such a fantastic time and maybe someday my emotions will be worked out enough that I can fully explain the trip from my perspective, but don’t expect that anytime soon. I can say though, that the moment where I turned my tassel as a graduate is forever trapped in my mind. The gentle yet proud way I turned it and then the jumping up and down and screaming at the top of my lungs alongside people who had lived my same academic career for the past thirteen years plays over and over again in slow motion. The best kind of slow motion replay.

June 10th marked another graduation, but this time it was from the student ministry at church. I am officially an adult in the eyes of the church, the state of North Carolina, and the state of Florida. This graduation was much more sentimental, but hugely exciting nonetheless. I’ve been blessed with fabulous Sunday School teachers, but I’m excited to have the opportunity to choose who I mesh with best now. Not every group meshes perfectly and I know that, but choosing who I feel most at home with is crazy to me and I’m only a little bit stoked for it. Change can sometimes be terrifying and as one of only two students who are staying at home next year, I guess all of my changes are exciting and welcome. I do feel for those that it may not be so exciting for, though.

All of that to say, I’ve been busy doing some awesome things with some awesome people. I couldn’t be more fired up for the next chapter of my journey and I hope I can bring y’all along for the ride. There will many firsts and lasts coming up here soon, but sometimes the end is only just the beginning. So, here’s to the past six months of growth and life lived to the fullest. Now I can finally say “I did it all…”