First off, I want to apologize for my inconsistent blogging habits. It keeps slipping my mind because I don't see the events in my life as terribly significant or exciting. I will be doing my best to improve my writing habits from now on. I know, you've heard that before, but things have been moving quickly for a while that are now settling back into place.
So where to begin. About a month ago I was really doing well. I was coming off a week where I had gotten 4 days of extra work and had made some great progress on the pilot for a show I am writing. But that all came to a screeching halt on April 25th when I received a call that tragedy had struck back home. Two married friends of mine were involved in an incident that left one dead and the other injured.
It was a difficult week. Being so far away was difficult, but I was not alone out here in LA. Many Calvary people were struggling with similar feelings of isolation and that made my grief a little more tolerable (though I was surprised at the effect it had on me). But as the week went on, and the date of the funeral approached, I began to feel very alone. One by one, my support system of Californians was making their way back east for the funeral. With a trip scheduled for my brother's graduation the following weekend, it was impractical for me to come home and certainly out of my price range.
Then God blessed me. After talking with a friend about what I was going through and how hard it was becoming to be stuck out here, he called me back with an offer. "If we could get you home tomorrow, would you want to come?" I was stunned. He said that some people had anonymously arranged to buy me a plane ticket to get me home for the weekend. And less than 12 hours later, I was on my way to Minneapolis.
The funeral was everything I needed. With an estimated attendance of 1,500 people, there were good friends and old friends, from near and far. I was able to process, and mourn in a way that would have been impossible had I not been back. I will always be thankful to the donors that made it possible, even if I may never know for sure who was involved.
Then came an interesting couple of days. I returned Monday evening, following the Friday funeral. That coming Friday, I would be on my way back to the midwest for Andrew's graduation at Wheaton. I managed to get one day of work on Wednesday, but not doing extra work.
I spent that day helping my friend, and LAFSC Resident Director, Sarah Duff clear out the apartments from this spring's semester. It was a lot of fun because I had hardly seen her since I moved here in January. We also had Rachel, who is the friend that set me up with my current apartment and babysat my car, helping and a guy named Justin who I had not met before. We worked hard but I had a lot of fun. My social life is not anything to write home about (though, ironically, that is what I am literally doing right now) so even a day loading and unloading heavy boxes counts as a great day hanging out in my mind. Honestly, I would have done it for free (though the money was certainly quite nice).
Then came a nice, relatively relaxing week and a half at home with my family. Andrew successfully graduated from Wheaton College so "Yay" for him. It was fun to see Wheaton one last time, as I don't know when I will have cause to go there again.
While I was home I got to see lots of friends and family. I got to play broomball with a bunch of Bethel Royal alums and current players...for 2 1/2 hours. I got to see the Twins beat the White Sox at the BEAUTIFUL Target Field. Andrew and I had a great time, even if it was a bit chilly. Got to see Charissa's band concert. Got a new phone and a new bank. Got a hair cut. The only real downside of the trip, besides that you can never really see enough of loved ones in such a short time, was that my softball game was rained out. I had been hoping to make a guest appearance with the Calvary Stars while I was back but it was not to be. I'll just have to keep looking for a team around here I guess (I miss sports, I have not had much opportunity to play much of anything here, despite the great weather).
Well that more or less brings you up to date. I arrived in Burbank on Tuesday evening and spent the next two days on set at Huge. So after those early/long days I've spent the last two days relaxing and recovering from lots of flying and visiting. I'm starting to feel settled here again.
New roommates soon. Update coming then.
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