Six months ago I took a leap of faith and decided to move out of state for college. Now I am learning that moving to another state is harder than I imagined. I grew up in a little town in North Idaho called Sandpoint. I only moved twice in my nineteen years growing up in Idaho, and the past thirteen were spent in the house my parents and church built from the ground up. For those of you who have never been to North Idaho, I must tell you that it is beautiful. Sandpoint has approximately ten thousand or less people in and around it, making it a small town. Not small enough to be related to everyone, but small enough to see someone you know in the grocery store every time you walk in.

The town is nestled in the valley, right-smack-dab in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. Sandpoint surrounds Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced pond-or-ay), which is the largest lake in Idaho. The lake is pristine and so deep that the military would test submarines in its watery abyss. There are acres of pines and cotton wood trees. I lived just seven minutes out of town in what is known as Selle Valley. I have lived in the valley all my life and I might be a little biased but I do believe it is the prettiest place on earth. From the fields of hay to giant pines it is a pleasant countryside to say the least. My house was built in the woods right next to a hay field, the best of both worlds.

I am sorry. I got a little carried away, but you can see it can’t you? It’s beautiful! I can just feel the brisk wind blowing against me on a summer’s late-afternoon. I can remember walking on the dirt road that leads to my house and stopping to watch the Chickadees and robins as they sing little melodies to the Creator. I would always try to talk to them and mimic their sound, “Chick-A-dee-dee-dee-deeeee! Chick-A-dee-deee-deeee!” Oh, how I miss Idaho.

I have made quite a few life changing decisions in the past few years, but none of them have been as drastic as this one. I decided to leave the small town I grew up in, and step out of my comfort zone. The possibility of moving both excited me and filled me with angst. How could I leave the land that I held so dearly to my heart?

After graduating from North Idaho College with my A.S., I was looking into universities. I had two requirements they had to meet before further investigation: a good education program and it had to be Christian. Lo and behold, Corban University popped up almost to the top. Fitting my expectations perfectly I applied and was accepted within a month. I don’t think any amount of preparation could have got me ready for the many blessings and trials that I would endure through the process of moving.

I tend to love change as much as a slug loves salt, but at the same time change excites me in a way nothing else does. As the infamous saying goes, “Change is a part of life!” Believe me, I have tried to avoid it, but it is inevitable. After getting settled in at Corban, it didn’t really hit me that I was living in a different state until a month into living here. Oregon and Idaho being both part of the Inland Northwest have a lot of similarities. They have the same time zone, a lot of the same vegetation, and even the stars look the same.

One of the biggest differences for me was that there aren’t any mountains here in Salem. I know what you’re thinking, “Oregon has mountains!” And it does, I know. But Salem isn’t located in the mountains like my home in Idaho. At first I was disappointed, but then it struck me one day as I was working in the Corban Community Garden that the sky is way more open and that I could see so much of it. This might seem like a no-brainer, but in Idaho I only had a small circle of sky because the horizons were all blocked by ginormous mountains. I have witnessed some amazing sunsets here, and I think that it is due to the vastness of the sky (and the hand of God of course).

I am learning bit by bit that it is good to move out on your own and that God has created the whole world beautiful in its own way. Oregon is very rainy, which is great because I love the smell of petrichor. I am beginning to love Oregon. It isn’t home yet, but perhaps home is truly where the heart is. I have had so many good experiences with the new friends I have made here. God is at the core of Corban, and it is really reflected in those I pass by every day on my way to class. So I guess my point is that change isn’t always a bad thing, in fact sometimes it can be the best thing that has ever happened to you.