Learning to Love Change
A Sneak Peek Into Our Cozy Little Apartment
Welcome to Canterbury 209!
We arrived at the city about a week ago and let me tell you, move in day was interesting, to say the least. We lack air conditioning here in the building and with three girls moving in at the same time and not one but two U-HAULs it felt a little hectic. As for me, I thought I could pack my life into just two suitcases. Mind you, I was trying to pack for several different seasons. Who was I trying to fool? So, as the girls were sorting through all their boxes I made several quick trips to nearest Target. What would life be like without Target? I am telling you we would all be in shams. This building that we now get to call home is quite old, I'm not going to lie, when I first walked into the tiny elevator and then walked down a dark hallway to get to our room, I was a bit scared. But we were able to make our apartment feel a little more homey with each of our personal touches. Also, Target you the real MVP.
I think that if I can live in a freshmen college dorm for three years that pretty much looks like a jail cell then I could live just about anywhere. And for only being here one week, I seriously look at this place and get excited that even though it's small, maybe it's not the newest or nicest, it's home, my home. A place I get to share, make people feel welcomed and create memories. It's not permanent or for forever, but nothing really is. I'm learning that home is what you make it, it should always be a place filled with love and maybe cute pillows that always helps. To quote the Francie motto, "it's not where you live, but it's who you live with."
1st Time In City Living- Something Will Go Wrong
This is actually a funny story. A real good ice breaker for new people living together. My sweet roommate Kailey thought that the drawer under the oven was storage and like any other girl would do, she decided to store hand towels down there. Well, she decides to cook some kale in the oven our very first day and while I am just casually sitting on the couch talking to her for maybe two minutes she begins to tell me the oven is on fire. WHAT??? I actually did not know what to do. Do I stop, drop and roll? Do I jump out the window? I mean we are only on the second floor, I could survive that. I just told her well I don't know what to do. So, I make the wise decision to run down the stairs to tell the front desk. Not long after, a man comes to save the day with the fire extinguisher. Sure enough, the drawer was actually the broiler and so instead of cooking some nice kale chips, we made some very burnt and black hand towels. We had to evacuate the building for a bit and the kind man brought a fan to help air out the apartment. That fan was so helpful. Kailey was pretty traumatized after this event and went to take a nap. As for me, I was just taking some time to make a Spotify Premium and as if nothing could get worse, I knock the fan straight out the window. I tried to save it, but I lost. The fan was gone. But there is good news, it fell into the courtyard that so happens to be connected to the piano bar right next door so we went down to grab it. We rushed back with hopefulness that it would still turn on. It didn't the first time only because it wasn't plugged in. Ok, here goes the second try... we have got it plugged in. It works! So, maybe we don't know some things, but that's ok. It's all about the learning, right? We have a lot to learn, but I think it can only go up from here.
Just Jump In
Change is inevitable, and it's easy to get fearful of new things. It's easy to miss the comfort of old things, familiar faces, and strong community. But if we live in fear, we begin to miss out on life.The life that is right in front of us. If it truly is ours for the taking, and if you want to touch the water, you might as well jump in. Go head first. Be all in. Once you do this, hope begins to arise. You begin to realize it's not that scary, it actually is a lot of fun. Here's to jumping in with fearlessness. Here's to loving new places and people that are different from us. In the end, isn't that our calling? I want to swim in the freedom I've been given and swim fast because time is short and I know that. So, I am just jumping in!
Enjoy the Ride
Proverbs 16:9 says, "In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." For us, we chose to come to Chicago. The Lord already knew this. He has us here for a purpose. This is not our forever home, but it is home for us now. My prayer is that we would bring light to this city. A city filled with a lot of determination, high paced walkers, busy workers, friendly folks and a lot of good food. But also a city that is broken, hurting, homeless and dark. Everyone has a story. I just hope we take the time to listen and be heard. Here's to living outside the bubble and enjoying the ride we are on now because we will be back to the bubble soon. And man, do we miss it, but we are not finished here yet. We are just beginning.
