Great Friends

I had one of the best groups of friends "back home". For nineteen years of my life, I lived in the same town, in the same state, went to the same church, and had a pretty decided circle of friends for most of my life. People came and went and our closeness changed as we hit stages of life at different times, but I was always surrounded by great people.

I moved to Spokane in 2008 after a summer spent in Ukraine and China which had not only grown and stretched me but also deepened friendships. It was a great summer that was over too quickly. I was in a new place, new state, without a church to call home. I had the world's best roommates/housemates and we all got pretty close, but in reality, we didn't have the history that I had with people back in Beaufort. Our relationships only went back to August, or if you want to be technical, to the day when we requested each other as friends on Facebook so we could get to know other Moody students. We hadn't lived life together like with my Beaufort friends. I wrote and received lots of letters and phone calls from home.

I was in transition after that. Christmas and Summer breaks in Beaufort, a new living situation in Spokane, a new living situation in Olympia, back to Beaufort, move to Naches (where we knew NOBODY), and finally back to Spokane, where thankfully, we've been since September.

This past year, I wasn't a student, but working. I wanted to continue those relationships with roommates and Moody friends so we got together for dinner or coffee. Living in a dorm-ish building with so many people definitely encourages interaction and since all our doors open onto the same hall, we're pretty much into one another's business all the time.

It's not the first time in my life that I can say that I have good friends. But being here and developing these deeper relationships in the past year have been so good. I honestly consider this home. I addressed an envelope to my parents recently and put "Spokane, Washington" instead of "Seabrook, South Carolina". My Moody friends and my CTR friends and the people I'm around all the time are making this place very much not my second home, but my home-home.

I know that this earth isn't our home, but I love the closeness of relationship afforded to us. God has been so gracious to allow such deep, close relationships with people in such a relatively short time!