Time Flies

I can't believe it's already been a month since I left home, down here in San Diego. I'm somewhat surprised at myself though. I thought I'd miss home a lot more than I have. I suppose it's good in a sense that I'm enjoying myself here under the sun rather than thinking about Waterloo all the time when there's so much to do here besides work. Every weekend so far has been an adventure on its own, ranging from surfing and snorkeling to the zoo and Disneyland. And what a way to top it off by being stranded in a small suburb/town because the bus takes a different route after a certain time of day. It's been a lot of fun here, not just the places and things I've seen and done, but also the people I've met here. It's a strange (but good) feeling meeting so many new people here... I guess I always had the mindset that my friends in Waterloo is all that I need ;), but I've found some pretty cool people to hang out with here =)

I really had hoped to settle down and focus on achieving some of the goals I had in mind quicker than I have and it seems like there's always something new just around the corner, not complaining here, but I wish some things could just go according to plan. The biggest challenge for me this term is to maintain/improve my spiritual walk with God. Being on committee in the summer had motivated me to dig deeper into scripture and rely on God and the body of Christ in a way I've never experienced before. It helped me overcome the state of the church and its associated politics that has left a really big scar, yet to fully recover. With the summer term long past (or what seems like it), I've found myself struggling to grasp the closeness I had with God during the school term. I have found a really nice community church nearby, which I'm regularly attending now, but it hasn't satisfied my spiritual hunger and thirst.

I don't blame any of this on the church... they have really opened the doors for me to get involved within the church in worship and fellowship (they call it community groups here) and the leaders of this church really do put in effort to stay in touch with everyone here, but I have been hesitant to take that step to serve and commune with people here.. just the way I am - "quiet and timid" [quoted from a few friends of mine here]. The church also has some pretty cool things working within the service itself and I'd really like to see this in Waterloo - small group prayers integrated within the service and a time for the congregation to respond with questions they might have on the sermon. I guess the latter is a little awkward for Sunday service, but I feel that this is what has made the congregation so open about everything. They aren't afraid to share or pray for one another (from what I've seen, there has yet to be an exception). I really hope that my time here in San Diego will be spent in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.