Walking away from something that you've known your whole life and starting something completely new can be one of the hardest things in the world. We live in a world where people tend to get scared to leave what they've always been around and to go out and see new things. Moving away is scary and it's hard and it has it's constant challenges. Every single time someone asks you where you're from and then they have to continue to ask you why you're "here," wherever here might be.

So many people don't realize how much more is out there in the world, and you have. You've realized that you want to see more than what your home town has to offer, but knowing that that same town will always be your home. You've learned that traveling to places you've only heard about in movies is only going to make you a more understanding person. You develop a sense of independence when you go away. You are forced to meet new people and try new things.

Easy is the last word that could be used to describe leaving home. Being away from your friends and family will never become easy. You'll always miss the way your dog greeted you at the front door every day or the way the kitchen smelled when your mom made your favorite meal. But by moving away, you have discovered a whole new side of yourself only brought out by the long nights you've spent in your new home or during your first trip to the grocery store without a list (don't do it, it's not a good idea).

Going away doesn't mean you didn't like where you were from or that you couldn't wait to get far away from your parents. Going away means that you've fallen in love with the idea of having a new start. It means that you're putting all of your trust into something much greater than anyone you will every encounter, God. Moving eight hours away from home and saying "see ya later" to all of my closest friends and family was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. There is no way that I would have been able to do it without my faith.

Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite scriptures and it's one that I feel I can recite to myself in many occasions in order to gain reassurance. "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Whether it be with a new class I'm taking, or a new social environment that I find myself in, I always know that there is a much greater plan for me. A plan that I can not have the slightest idea about. Maybe your reason for going away was similar to mine in that you wanted to put yourself out into a world you've never experienced. Maybe you have a completely different reason.