Moving Forward

Marina by my house:

Well, I've decided that I'm long overdue for a post...What have I been up to since Africa you may ask?

1) Shortly after my arrival home, my parents threw a welcome home/grad party for me. I got to see lots of friends that I hadn't seen since the end of school and had a great time...the party was a blast complete with a giant cake that had little chocolate monkeys on it (in honor of Africa).

2) After the celebrations came to a conclusion, I began to sort through all my clothes, school stuff and the paraphenalia that I have accumulated over the years...I'm moving to South Carolina for school and I'm unlikely to ever move back home, so this is the grand organization/cleaning out of everything from children's books to college textbooks.

3) My grandparents came up from Florida to visit! It was great to see them since I haven't seen them since January. We celebrated (belatedly) my grandpa's 80th birthday and my parents' anniversary, so it was a good family time.

4) Because not many (or any) places will hire you for 5ish weeks, I haven't been working...that has been a huge blessing because I've been able to spend the summer with my family and enjoy them before I move away to SC. It has also been great to hang out with friends and see them one last time...r...So, I guess I'm trying to really enjoy summer and my family and friends. I haven't had a summer like this in quite a while. Most summers I have spent working or studying or both, so it is a real blessing from God to just rest in between all the packing...I know that med school will be hard enough and so I'm trying to just enjoy my last moments in Rochester.

My friend Dawson & I after church on Tuesday nights:


Out with some school friends to Applebee's:


4th of July bonfire & fireworks with my friend Alicia:


Garbage plates are a DELICIOUS Rochester specialty composed of cheeseburger patties, mac salad and home fries:


5) Naturally, because I am moving away, I have had to do lots of apartment shopping...The spare bedroom at my house is filled with stuff for my apartment. It basically looks like I got married. Since there is no on-campus housing and I am setting up a whole apartment, I have the equivalent of a wedding shower...everything from dishes to sheets to pictures. Absolutely insane!

6) Lastly, I'm finishing up some stuff for Campus Crusade at St. John Fisher College (my undergrad school). I did the graphics/publicity and so I'm doing some last stuff and then I have to teach my replacements how to do some basic graphic design stuff.

That's the report on my summer...I still miss Gabon alot. I sit in church and I miss the joyous chorus of African voices singing praises to God in French. I miss the simplicity of life and simply throwing on a shirt and one of my African skirts every morning. Most of all, I miss my African and missionary friends...what I have learned is that when you are in one place for a prolonged amount of time, you build relationships and that's what makes it hard to leave a place. I've been making Skype phone calls and emailing when I get the chance. Honestly, I cannot wait to go back! My new apartment will be covered in pictures from Gabon. I am so glad I had the privilege to go back to Gabon this summer. God really confirmed my calling as a medical missionary while I was there and it reminds me that all these years and years of schooling are worth it!... If you are reading this and are across the ocean in Africa, know that you are missed and prayed for!!!

It's strange to think that I won't be going back to Fisher in the fall. I'm really excited to move to SC and make new friends and face the challenge of med school, but I know that it is going to be hard...The only way I'll survive is by holding onto Christ...

One thing that God really has impressed upon my heart is the concept of moving on. In Genesis 19, God calls Lot out of Sodom and Gomorrah. As Lot and his family leave, his wife stops and looks back and turns into a pillar of salt. So many times, I think this happens to us (in a sense). Sometimes, God calls us forward or into a new place, but we don't move on and get stuck in the past. I think it is so important to not just look forward, but move forward when God calls us into a new place...Lot's wife never saw what was beyond Sodom and Gomorrah because she was stuck in the past. If we don't look forward, we may miss out on what God has for us!