Cedarville- Nine Years Later

I went antiquing today in Springfield at my favorite place. That meant driving by the exit on I-70 to Cedarville, Route 72. It’s a road I’ve got to know very well over the past nine years. It’s taken me to nursing home ministry, to Cameron’s house, to work when I taught, and many a Dunkin run.

Nine years. Has it really been nine years since I first came out here to Ohio? I’m sure many of you remember that tumultuous time, and many of you prayed for me through requests from my Nana, my Mom, and even me (though usually I was asking for prayer that someone would come out to Ohio and get me…). If you don’t know the story, I never chose to delete those blog posts so you can go back and look at my desperate ramblings. 

Thankfully it was really only that first year out there that truly tried my spirit, even though there were other blips along the way (namely my crusty old beloved apartment and a turbulent relationship I got into while living there), I actually went out early to school the next summer I missed it so dang much. Those were the best times, and I learned so much from quiet moments on campus, just me and the Lord. Once I found my own in the History & Government department and found kindred spirits in some of my professors, it felt finally like I belonged. 

Time has healed most wounds (though I must admit COVID ending my final semester there still hurts), and praise the Lord I’m able to look at it all in a different light. I stand so much stronger in every aspect of my life because of my time at Cedarville. It’s strange to see what friendships have remained and grown deeper roots, and which ones have ended (a few still sting), and how my time in a tiny Ohio town has shaped who I am today. 

Now, that’s not to say I haven’t had my difficulties with the school since then, I struggle with feeling inadequate because though I’ve had many interviews with the school over the years, I’ve never been hired to work there. That’s hard on a spirit when all you want is to give back to a ministry that changed your life but they don’t seem to want you. It’s something I’ve tried my best to come to terms with, but it’s still bitter. There have also been times they’ve let me down with how administration has reacted to things of various natures, or stances they’ve taken, but I also know we’re still all humans in a fallen world and so the college is not perfect. 

Despite the hurt, Alec and I still find much joy in randomly coming to campus for date nights and long walks. The town and university shaped so much of our story, and that makes things ever the more precious. It’s still so funny to think that our times at Cedarville overlapped, yet we never met each other!! (We both probably would’ve thought each other as losers based on our majors…).

Though it was sometimes a suffocating bubble and there was an ever persistent “war” between townies and the “college people,” I truly do miss living in the community. No matter what you did, it felt like you were a part of something greater. There are still some things I keep close from there, particularly some professors, and my doctor whom I love dearly (I could find a PCP much closer than Cedarville, but you can’t get much better than Marcia!). I hold tight to the fact that we’re both second generation students, and that maybe someday we’ll have kids and grandkids that might want to attend as well! It’s so fun to see a legacy. If my mom hadn’t randomly found Cedarville in a catalogue, trajectories of lives would be vastly different! 

Some verses that always comes to mind when I think of Cedarville and its professors are Philippians 1:3-6:

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” ESV

When I first started cross-stitching in my little dorm room in Faith Hall, I turned that verse into gifts for some of the dearest people in my life who were associated with the university, and it’s so good to still be able to look back and have that verse ring true in my heart, even if perhaps some of the relationships have changed. 

I pray for Cedarville, and I especially pray this weekend for its incoming students which include some girls who I love dearly! It sure has been an adventure these past nine years. 

A Place to Rest

I think everyone needs a place they can run to and rest . Ultimately we should run to God, but I think He uses places and people we can run to, to experience Him in the ordinary.

When I was a child, it was Living Waters. Everything just made sense there. My creativity, mind, and worship just flowed there. It was the place in those deepest darkest nights of winter I wished I could just run to and everything would seem better, even if it wasn’t actually. Columbus Day Weekend as soon as I had left the campground, I would be counting down the days until the first weekend of May when I could be back. 

My coming out to Ohio in 2017 was extremely difficult for me (I’m sure plenty of you remember) and I couldn’t just escape to camp anymore. At first, it felt like I had nowhere to run and hide from the burdens of life, and it took me a while to find a place of rest among the craziness of campus and college life. First, I found it at the home of Jon & Lynette Rarick, who took me in on many occasions and in what they might not have known were some of my darkest moments. Eventually, as I blossomed into my own, I found this place— Cox Arboretum, where I am currently sitting on a bench and writing this out— listening to cicadas whine and a lonesome mourning dove.

It’s not the most quiet park (it lies along Interstate 75), nor is it the most peaceful (I’d bet it’s the busiest of the Dayton Metroparks), but it’s the place where I can escape to find God and find myself, too, time and time again. When I finally got my own car in 2021, it was one of the first places I ever drove on my own. When my heart was broken time and time again by the same guy, I oftentimes found myself here among the trees, turtles, and flowers. I trace God’s hand in all the creation that roam here, even the little caterpillars which are currently crawling alongside me.

It has helped me cope with many a loss, and many a time of confusion and unknown. Praise the Lord it has also been a place of much happiness for me— I brought Alec out here on the day we officially decided to date, and we took our engagement portraits here. 

Usually by this time in a year I will have come here 10-15 times, yet this is only my second time here this year. It’s been an odd year, one where it’s been harder to find joy and see God in everything. I haven’t even felt the desire to come out here, but thank the Lord today I did. I was shopping for a book at Barnes & Nobles, and when I stepped outside I finally felt that urge and followed it despite knowing I probably had other stuff to do today that could take precedence. But the last two months have beat me down. Deaths that have made me recall the fragility of life, more career opportunities that have had doors shut and left me wondering if I am not good enough, having the hope of two little feet to soon paddle across our floor and that hope being extinguished almost as quickly as it’d began, and the fact that now both of my best friends live in the DC Metro area. 

I needed a break, I needed rest.

So here I find myself on my favorite bench, not with a pen and paper as I normally would be writing, but instead on my rinky-dink notes app, which is surprisingly good in a pinch to let my words flow and emotions quell. Now, I will say my allergies are KILLING me out here today, but I do suppose that’s the one downside of being out in nature. I wish you all were here with me to experience it; amidst the noise of cars, I’d hope you’d be able to commune with God and yourself, too. It’s a beautiful, balmy day with just enough puffy white clouds to provide some shade if needed. I hope you all can find a place like this, or multiple places if you’re lucky. For the hour I’m here it feels like I can breathe again, where I’m reminded that it’s all in God’s timing and He has me where He wants me…even if maybe I don’t want to be there. ;)

PS do not consider this to be my return to writing and/or blogging, though I’m sure my husband would really love that. I rarely get the itch to write anything of legitimate worth nowadays. Today, it felt right though.  

The Ending of a Chapter

How do I sum up my three years at Cedarville University?

The goodness of God. Even when I couldn't see it, or didn't want to see it, it was there, HE was there.

In every single thing that has happened, the Lord has been preparing my heart and teaching me to rely solely upon Him. My deceitful heart has not always been thankful for what has come my way, and I have walked away at points and needed to run back, falling on my knees and once again surrendering myself and my life to Him. But the Lord has also showered me with his grace and mercy.

I am not the same girl who walked onto this campus three years ago, and every single day I thank the Lord for that. That is not to say that I don't still struggle sometimes, because you all have seen that I do, but the Lord has transformed my heart and mind. I got a wonderful education here at Cedarville, but I think the most important thing is how spiritually strengthened I have been by faculty, friends, and my people at Dayton Avenue. What a joy it has been to been to have faculty become friends, friends become family, and a church that has shown me how the body of Christ is truly supposed to function. I have seen the goodness of God as I've walked along this path. I must admit I am horribly sad to see this chapter ending, but I'm also thankful to not be leaving town until the Lord calls me elsewhere.

Lessons I Have Been Learning

About two weeks ago to this day I realized that I was about to go broke. Like- actually broke. Not a penny to my name. Plus my rent was already past due and my utility bills were quickly approaching. Now, I will admit that I've found myself in difficult spots before where I've had to ask my parents for $20 for groceries, but this was different. My parents have been so gracious to me during this time so I am very thankful- they have provided money for a host of different reasons- but their money was running out as well. Just the mere thought of this sent me into a deep depression which has meant all the typical things- me unable to get out of bed, the only good part of my personality basically being nonexistent, isolating myself- the usual. Most significant and if I'm being honest, the most terrifying part of it all though is that I allowed myself to fall very behind on my schoolwork (I almost say this with a bit of a laugh though, because I have a very dear couple who their first question for me when I'm not doing well is- "How's your schoolwork?" Sorry T&C, it ain't good.)

My 21st birthday quickly approaches, and I have found it difficult not to compare it to where my mother was at this point in her life- freshly graduated from Cedarville, and about to get married to my father with her life much more in order than mine is currently. When I turn 21 I will be in the throes of an uncertain senior year also at Cedarville, with no clue what my next year of life is going to look like, and single as all heck (that part doesn't actually bother me, though.) I'm not where I want to be spiritually, mentally, and even physically, and it feels like the waves of life just keep tossing over me, and I am unable to catch my breath. I get frustrated a lot because I allow myself to think a lot: "Well, if Nana was still alive, x, x, and x wouldn't have happened." Now- I know that in reality if Nana was alive, though some things would have been able to be resolved or prevented more easily, she was not the panacea for my life.

So through this whole mess I have been learning and re-learning some very difficult lessons:

1) I need people.

                           Some of y'all are going to think I am real stupid for putting this as a lesson, because this is really obvious, right? Not so simple for my serotonin-lacking brain. When I am having a depressive episode, I tend to isolate myself rather than surround myself with people, which ends up making things so, SO much worse. Living alone, this escalates things. Even though I tend to get anxiously attached to people, I have had to face the hard truth that I actually need people to steer me in the right direction, to ground me, and to provide encouragement during the difficult times. After a quick coffee chat with my discipleship professor, he even recognized that in me. I thrive the most when I am regularly grabbing coffee and meals and just spending quality time with the people that I cherish the most. This goes hand in hand with my next lesson.

2) Humility is key.

                          I have a strange fear of being arrogant. I literally went into the office of my boss a couple of weeks ago and asked him if he thought I was arrogant or not. But I've realized over the past couple of weeks that I have had a pride of a different kind. In my not bringing myself to get help, to ask for help, to bring myself around people...I've been believing that I can do it all on my own. That I can manage the mess that is my life on my own. I've even skipped counseling twice in a month because I thought I couldn't give up an hour of my precious time to accomplish things to actually let it all out- spoiler alert: big mistake. I've never been able to do it all on my own, and I certainly cannot right now. So I've had to come to a point of accepting my life and myself as I truly am right now, and that many things are beyond my ability and control.

3) I need to look for what the Lord gives me and be grateful, even if it is not necessarily what I want...
                       This has been really difficult for me. I like to pray bold prayers because I know that the Lord answers bold prayers, but many of them have either not been answered, or have been answered in ways that I did not quote-on-quote "want." Whether it be relationships that weren't restored or did not deepen as I wanted them to, wanted opportunities that never came to fruition, difficult situations I was not delivered from...for the most part the Lord has fulfilled those wants) and what I thought I needed) in different ways. Other people were brought into my life, food was provided to me, I somehow ended up with just enough money for groceries, and people surrounded me for support in those situations I could not get out of. I'll admit sometimes I just am so upset that life isn't going how I'd like that I can't even notice what the Lord is providing, or I refuse to not be grateful. I am trying to turn that around.

Anyways- back to the whole "I'm broke" situation- it's now been resolved, thank goodness. Not through methods I would have wanted, but now I do not have to go into any further debt to pay for my rent and utilities for the rest of the semester. I had to find a little humility and bring myself to call upon someone I knew could help me out, and it took a lot out of me to admit my situation and ask for that help. 

It's still going to be a bumpy ride to the end of the semester, but I'll make it. I always do.

Until next time,

Laura xx

September

Today is technically the first day of fall, but it sure does not feel like fall out here in Ohio. We are still having daily highs into the 80s, and as of right now, the predicted high for October 1st is 91 degrees. You would think that after two years of being out here, my body would had adjusted to a longer summer, but alas- it has not! I'd be lying if I didn't say that I am wishing for cooler weather as the trees begin to change and the leaves begin to fall. Anyways, I cannot believe that we are already almost to October- I rarely think about my birthday month until it's upon me.

September has been a trip. I'm going to admit that it's been a bit of a mess, it just seems like I cannot get out from underneath the waves of life right now. I am learning day after day how difficult adulthood can be. I want to give a shout-out to my parents though, because honestly this past month would not have been survivable without both their emotional and financial support. I always wanted to be an adult, and have a place of my own where I could entertain and have space for my friends to come to and feel at home. It was so great in my mind and while it is still great in reality- there are so many things attached to it. I now have bills I am responsible for and while I've always looked being "domestic"...I am realizing why people have a hard time keeping up their homes when they have jobs and other responsibilities. Despite that, though, I love having this house. I get to bake things for people when I want, cook meals for friends, and have movie nights.

(Here's a picture of my living space. It's drab still, but it's coming together!)

Classes are going well so far- I am taking my lightest load yet with only 17 credit hours. I am taking my extra time to either embrace it being my last year here, or working. I still am working for the Center of Political Studies (H&G Department), but in a lesser capacity than I was this summer, as it is the school year now. I am so beyond thankful for the friendship, guidance, and support from those above me in the department, it's such a blessing to have professors who are willing to work with me and help me towards my goal of being a professor. I feel like I spend my life in our building, but it's been an extra home to me. I also have officially joined Dayton Avenue Baptist as a member, so I am so happy about that. I've found a family there as well. I find it so amazing that the Lord keeps providing me with support when I need it the most.

Coming up, I take the GRE (graduate record examination) on Saturday, which I have to admit I am quite nervous about. This whole "getting into grad school" is kind of wigging me out at the current moment. I am in major debt from my time at Cedarville, so I will really need to get an assistantship if at all possible for graduate school. Right now the school I am looking at the most is the University of Cincinnati- it's a good program where I could possibly just continue on to my PhD there if I am successful in my Master's program, and it's close to home. We'll see what happens, though.

I would really love if if I could have prayer over the next couple months as I complete my application process for grad school- and that I would rest in whatever the Lord does, and for my finances. If you want more details on my current financial situation and the details surrounding it, you can contact me directly, but I'm not super comfortable with throwing it out there on the internet.

So there's your September update! As things keep happening this semester, I will keep you all informed!

Laura xx