2 Weeks

I am writing this as my two week warning. I will be leaving with my brother for LA in about two short weeks from today on August 18th. Andrew, for those that don't know, will be accompanying me on the 3 day drive before flying straight to Wheaton after I have checked in at the school.

My mind is flooded with a variety of emotions and thoughts. Nervousness is obviously one of them. Nervousness is a natural part of any move, or even the smallest change for that matter. New experiences, new people and a new town in a totally different part of the country certainly qualifies. Oh and I'm also going to be about 2,000 miles away from my family and friends here in Minnesota. For those bad at math (or geography), that's a long ways. So it would be understandable if I were freaking out right now, right?

The weird thing is, I'm not as nervous about it as you might think. There is some trepidation about meeting new people, and some nervousness of getting lost in a big new city, but that's about all. But I've done the whole new people thing before, and I got a head start on learning LA roads this spring, so even that isn't too bad.

Mostly I think I'm just excited. I think this is the 2nd natural emotion that springs out of a change in circumstance. It's almost always attached and in equal measure with nervousness. For every thing that could go wrong, there is also the feeling of what might be. This is hopefully the beginning of a totally new life for me and I can't wait to see what God has for me to do out there, and who He has for me to meet.

The thing I didn't really expect, or maybe just didn't remember, is the seesawing I have been experiencing over the last month or so. I will swing rapidly and quite unexpectedly between overwhelming excitement to finally leave for Los Angeles, and a general apprehension about leaving the state that I love so much. While this is mostly unpleasant, I did have what I consider to be a breakthrough recently.

A few nights ago I was walking out to my car when I was hit with a very calm, general sense that I should be in Los Angeles. And not future tense like I should go there, but that I should be there now. As in that minute. It wasn't nervous or excited, just a sense of belonging and safety. I just needed to be there. It's a feeling I have experienced before, and in the past I have come to diagnose it as common homesickness.

Whatever I am headed to in Los Angeles, continue to pray for me as I go through this major transition in my life. As slow as things are right now, they will be going 110 mph in just 2 short weeks.