Hello friends! Welcome to the first of many blog posts for this next upcoming YAGM year. I am very excited and grateful for you all to walk beside me on this journey.
Home.
In my room, I watch our crazy cat follow every movement and bird outside as she presses her nose against the glass window. Sitting on my bed, I am surrounded by my old high school awards, an abundance of seashells I’ve collected over the years, and so much purple everywhere you might guess it is my favorite color. (No doubt it is.) A lot has changed in this room over a period of 10 years. The walls are accompanied by different picture frames now and I’ve rearranged the furniture who knows how many times. I love this room and I’ve grown a lot living in it.
I think about my college diploma that’s now tucked away in my bedside chest after four years of hard work. Little did I know what was in store for me four years ago. I was welcomed with open arms into my second home Virginia Tech. A home that I shared the same space with the most unforgettable and life-changing roommate every day. A home that helped me embrace self-understanding and integrity. A home that surrounded me with unforgettable people and mountains.
This summer has been filled with endless hugs, the kind of laughter that makes your cheeks hurt, and tears wiped away because the farewells are not forever. I’m so grateful for my wonderful family and friends who have shaped my sense of home. Home is a place your feet may leave but your heart will always be with those you shared it with.
Leaving home will not be the easiest thing I do, because home is comfortable and familiar. But this YAGM year is meant to be uncomfortable and unfamiliar. It will be a year of even more change, uncertainty and growth. I am so very excited for South Africa to become my home for the next year, and all the changes that will accompany it. I will be living intentionally in community that will shape me in ways I don’t even know or expect. I have a lot to learn.
I wanted to again say thank you to all of you who continue to support me through a variety of gifts in preparation for my year. Knowing I have so much love and support back home surrounding me during this next year of living in community means a lot to me. In just a few days I will be on my way to orientation in Chicago. Upon arrival, I will be greeted by an amazing ELCA Global Missions staff and 90 other volunteers from around the country. Together we will go out into the world to walk alongside our global companions and these places we call home.
Let the journey begin!
-SND
Walking Together 