1,200 Miles and a Leap of Faith Later

I can hardly believe, but it's been three weeks since the last toll was paid, and we drove across the Hudson River while Albany's city lights twinkled and reflected off of the water. It was a strange moment, realizing that I was in New York and I didn't have a plane ticket home. For a split second I wanted to panic and turn right back around ... but somehow I knew that I could actually do this ... that I wanted to do this.

That first week found me in awe of the adventure I was on: "I can't believe I get to do this!!" That quickly went to "What have I done?!" as I navigated the start of a new job and tried to organize my tiny little apartment. I was dependent on a charged cell-phone battery as I attempted to navigate the Hudson Valley and the dozens of different routes that had me in mental circles 89% of the time. In that week, I could hardly bring myself to unpack since it made it all so real. But the third week? That was the week that found me saying, "I can't believe I get paid to do this!" at work. It was the week that I turned the crockpot on and lit candles in the living room. It was the week that I turned off the GPS because I knew where I was going. That was the week that found me nestled amidst a tiny little parish community gathered to celebrate the start of Advent while the rain pattered against the stained glass windows: the candle-lit church, the peacefulness of knowing that I was right there, in that moment, because I said to following His will ... that was all I needed to know that this was a leap of faith I had needed to take. So as the fourth week begins, I'm back to being in awe of what I am discovering behind this 'bend in the road!'

Notes about traveling halfway across the country: Chicago truck-drivers are possessed, looking up random facts about the states you are passing through gives you great trivia information, Indiana has cornfields--Notre Dame--and more cornfields, don't get a flat tire in Pennsylvania since there are no exits off of the interstate for miiiiiiiles, and I swear New York drivers will run you over if you are going too slow in the left lane. Also, about 2/3 of your plants will actually survive the trek!

October

October. October was fall festivities in all their glory ... hayrides and haunted houses, pumpkin patches and jack o'lanterns. Pumpkin spice lattes and cider. Baby showers and house full of laughing women. The golden blaze of the trees against the October blue skies. Late nights re-watching NCIS. Weekend walks around the lake. Cheering on the World Series. Candles glowing in the dusky, early evenings. It was everything an October should be.

But there was more. It's amazing how the Holy Spirit can use a leap of faith and quickly work to open doors in the course of a month. I'm learning that I have to be careful for what I pray for! When you tell the Lord you're willing to walk through the open doors, He takes you at your word. At the beginning of the month, I was submitting job applications, and starting the interview process. By the end of it? A new job was accepted and a move to Albany, New York was no longer a wish and a dream, but instead became a reality.

And it was in those moments that all the emotions began! Cue the excitement, nervousness, joy, and bitter-sweetness that is the close of one chapter and the beginning of a new one. I still can't quite wrap my mind around it ... for being someone who loves comfort zones, I can't believe I'm on the verge of a cross-country move. But at the same time? I'm ready. Under all the roller-coaster of emotions that have been the past weeks, there is a deep peace which is giving me the courage to pack up my little red car and make the final preparations. That, and knowing that there is a dark-eyed New Yorker waiting on the other end to see where there Lord wants us. God is good. Always. And so, the next chapter of this adventure of life is about to begin. Here's to becoming a Mid-West transplant in upstate New York!

John [Senior 2016]

A baseball can usually be found within reach of this senior at all times. So it was fitting that we did his photos at the high school ball diamond that has witnessed so much of his hard work, passion and  dreams unfold...

Hiking the Catskills

We went hunting for waterfalls a weekend or so ago. And along with a 260-foot roar of falling water, we also found autumn slowly creeping over the Catskills. I have to admit, having grown up amidst corn and soybean fields, the sight of any mountain range, no matter the size, never fails to make my heart just about burst. Wonder, amazement, joy ... Beauty does that to a soul. You get a little sliver of a glimpse of God's greatness and glory when you're tucked in the valleys and peaks of the mountains. Granted, my boots will never be the same again: I think there are still a few rocks rattling around in the heel of one of them. But the short hike through the damp, pine-scented woods was worth every step.