deep in the valley

i am here! after five days of some hilarious, incredibly adventurous roadtripping- i am here. it's hot. i'm home.

driving with lauren was perfect. between music, listening to harry potter on tape, and chatting each others' ears off we never got sick of each other. go figure. we started out west heading for indiana to stay with some of her family. it turns out we love indiana and it was so sweet to see the haubers and hang out with them for a while. from there we hit missouri. first we stopped in st. louis and rode up the giant arch. a bit nerve racking and jittery but so worth it from the top. so worth it. missouri is beautiful- who knew? we loved springfield where we stayed with lauren's old work crew friend and her husband. they had a tent set up on the floor from when their nephew stayed with them which made for a sweet campout night for us. we woke up to rain- and lots of it. thanks a mill hurricane isaac. our rooftop carrier proved to be waterproof, yet the straps holding it on were not. they soaked through and brought significant water into the car soaking our seats and some items in the backseat. luckily nothing was ruined but many of my cookbooks are stuck and my car smells awful. but we moved on. this day was our least favorite drive- oklahoma isn't the most interesting of states. by the time we got to texas we were pretty exhausted. we were greeted by a gorgeous sunset and a lovely family who was eager to make us dinner and chat. we had never met the youngs before, relatives of my boss this summer, but instantly felt at home. we crashed and woke up the next day ready to take on the west. we had been driving around 8 or 9 hours a day until this day when it only took 4.5 to get from texas to new mexico. we loved this drive and were free to stop wherever and whenever we wanted. we drove on route 66 a while and ended up at this hole in the wall little diner which felt straight out of a movie. after receiving an email from our host family the night before that they would be out of town, we ended up with a house to ourselves in albuquerque. we chilled and watched movies and went out to dinner. albuquerque is the best- our favorite place we stayed. we would both live there. finally we set out on our final drive to arizona. this was about 7 hours but by then we were a bit impatient and just ready to be there. new mexico to az has to be the best drive in the country. seriously so beautiful. after a few hours we made it! we easily found my new condo and met my awesome roommates. the place is huge and i live on the third floor with madisen and sarah. sarah's sister julie lives on the first floor and our kitchen and living room is on the second. life her is going to be great. i know it. it's really hot. but i am so happy to be here!

since i was driving i didn't get to take too many pictures...but we did manage to take a picture with every state sign we drove through! thanks tripod

since i had no furniture whatsoever we spent the first night at the lovely chiappetti's house. it is great to have family when you are so far away from your real family. they have proven to be a great help out here. since recently moving they had tons of extra furniture and let me go shopping in their garage...for FREE! i ended up with a bed, dresser, bookshelf, and lamp that went perfectly in my room. don and reed helped me move in and get settled. god bless the chiappetti's- for real. yesterday after some strenuous moving we met my roommates at a resort on the side of a mountain and laid out at the pool a bit. we needed it. last night i had my first area leadership meeting for young life. there are about four times the number of leaders here than in howard county. and four times the love. i was overwhelmed by the welcoming spirit of these people. i am going to love it here. i know it. i also have a lot of learning to do. i have absolutely no idea how to lead that many people. i have no idea what i am doing. i am in the best place you can possibly be to see the Lord work. because heaven knows i cannot do it on my own.


so now i live deep in a valley. literally. i am here for two years and i am in an unfamiliar area doing a job i don't totally know how to do. i am in a position where, if the Lord doesn't come through and work through me, i will surely fail. without a doubt. but one thing i do know is that He is good. He comes through. He does what i can't. those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.


i will seek Him with all my heart and everything will work out. i trust. and, for now, i am home.