The Next Chapter in Life

Posted by David | Filed under Personal

Two weeks ago I arrived in small town Pennsylvania, all of my belongings in cardboard boxes freshly unloaded from my family’s van and strewn about the black-and-white checkered tile floors of my first-ever apartment. My bed lay in pieces, wooden planks stacked against the wall and missing metal screws tucked away in some unknown corner of my belongings. Like the boxes, my life felt momentarily scattered, stretched between two locations over a hundred miles apart.

There’s an excitement, a terror that comes with moving away from the familiar landscape of your past. In the past 21 years I’ve left 9 different homes across 8 states, from the pine woods of Oregon to the green bayous of Louisiana and the urban sprawl of New Jersey; each time, the same sense of nervous anticipation was found waiting for me. This move, however, is my first away from all family ties, to a life completely distinct and individual from everything that has come before. The thrill of the move, which has become so familiar as to be desirable, is now coupled with a sense of complete helplessness, forced confidence, and unqualified trust in God.

Today, sitting in my newly furnished living room listening to the ambience of downtown Ephrata, I feel utterly secure and at peace. The anxiety has lessened, the reality well set in. In its own unique way, this apartment has become a home–my home.

Permalink | October 2nd, 2005

One Response to “The Next Chapter in Life”

  1. Josh Says:
    March 17th, 2006 at 11:53 pm

    I’m glad you feel like you have a home up there…I will have to come up and visit…You are missed…

    Josh