Stop #188

"It's crazy to me how hospitable and loving some people are."
This thought has been running through my mind all week.
On Monday I said goodbye to the town I grew up in and to the people I love the most. As I sat down in the window seat, tear tracks visible through my foundation. I pressed my face against the glass & said goodbye to home. Goodbye to all things that were somewhat familiar.
It wasn't fear that was consuming my thoughts, I don't exactly know what it was. It was a feeling ive never felt.
I tried to get some sleep but it was an unrealistic goal. As I got closer to My destination I felt a calming presence. I wasn't worried, I was sad, actually devastated, I left all that I knew, I traded it for a foreign town. All my inside jokes left their audience & all My quirks left their safe zone. But even with this overwhelming sadness I felt, I knew I'd be alright.
As I stepped on campus the sorrow didn't disappear but it was sedated, there was an unrealistic amount of love here and all the sudden I knew I was going to be okay.
I've lived here less than a week and yet already I feel so at home.
I'm not used to it here, to manners and to respectful males, I'm not used to people genuinely wondering how my day went. These people who don't even know my story still love me.
"it's crazy how hospitable and loving some people are",
This thought consumes me & every time someone acts in love or kindness I am astounded once again.
Nowhere can replace Hollister and the memories carved into my home town, but, there is a certain consistent language of love here. A intangible feeling of acceptance and an intense love for Jesus and others.