Beauty From the Ashes: Part 3

"The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in his works."

Psalm 145:13b

(This is Part 3 of a series, you can find part 1 here and part 2 here)

If I am being honest, I had no desire to actually sit down and write this conclusion. A total of like ten people read what I post, and I've had little motivation to even to get up in the morning. I miss Maine, a lot. Don't get me wrong, I love Ohio, and I am being tremendously blessed living out here, but I miss the comfort of Maine, and seeing my pets and Papa. Seasons of depression are difficult for me to get out of.

But I'm working on it.

Now- let us jump back into May 2018.

(I posted this picture on Facebook & Instagram to hint that I was returning in the fall)

That first week of May was a lot of fun. Even though it was finals week, I wasn't too stressed. Abby and I spent a lot of our time together as she was already through with finals, and we ended up having some conversations that I'll always remember, for their humour if nothing else. It was also in those few days that I made a lot of impulse decisions I'd later reverse, after realising my adviser didn't have a clue on what would be best for me. I spent one day as an Integrated Social Studies Education major, before I switched to a double major of PoliSci and History. It was a lot of big decisions that I shouldn't have been making whilst I was trying to pack things up and get ready for my trek back to Maine.

A friend from home had agreed to let me travel back with him, and so we made plans to leave on that Friday after he finished his last final. Claire and Nate helped me pack up my things and get them into Kurt's truck, and on the 4th I said a teary-eyed farewell to Cedarville until the fall. At this point, no one really knew that I was staying, and so I kind of hinted at it on social media. We were around the Akron area when my phone started to ring, and somehow I knew exactly who it was- Lynette. Her and I were not close enough at that point that I would have buzzed her as soon as I had made my decision, but it was so thrilling to tell her that I'd be back. Even though she was going to be up home during the summer, I hadn't wanted to leave that friendship in Ohio.

Home was home, I realized that quickly after I arrived. The initial high of seeing my pets and my grandparents was great, and I was excited to get back into a routine of daily Tim Hortons runs with dad and spending most afternoons at Nana and Papa's...but I knew I'd made the right decision about coming back to Cedarville. There was no future for me in Aroostook County, and especially in Fort Fairfield. It was also in that month in which I made some decisions I would like to gloss over, such as ill-fated decision to join the Honours Program and deciding to live in Faith for my Junior Year. But I did make the wise decision to take four summer classes, and while scoping out fall classes to take, I found out that I could take another class from Mach, so that was pretty dope. Everything ended up balancing out in the end.

So in conclusion, and reflection...

I have said this a million times over, but I am still passionate about it- I am SO glad that God worked in me and my circumstances so that I could return to Cedarville. He knew that was where I needed to be, but silly me had wanted to fight Him on it. And spoiler alert- disobedience and stubbornness towards God never works out. I just have to be reminded of that every once in a while....or maybe all the time. What the Lord has brought me in the past year has literally made this past year the craziest of my life. but I am thankful. It is still a bit difficult for me to reconcile and process it all, but I am trying to remind myself of the goodness and faithfulness of God.

I'll be back on in a week or so to give everyone a recap and update on life here in the 'Ville. 

Laura xx