Reunion at Union

-




 Hello Blog People, 

I got to go on one last trip before I fly out to Italy. I was able to go back to Union and see all of my favorite people. It was an absolute blast 

I drove out on Friday and got there in time to go to Harvey's Harvest. (Harvey's Harvest is a special annual Campus Ministries and SA chapel that's off campus). I got to sing with some of my friends for the worship part and I didn't realize how much I missed that atmosphere until I was there again. I also found that randomly showing up and seeing friends I haven't seen for months brings me a certain sense of joy that cannot be compared to much else. That evening we had a surprise party for one of our friends and I got to just hang out with everyone in a group setting again. I couldn't help but recognize how grateful I felt to just be in the presence of all my friends again. 

Saturday I went to The Well and church at CVC. I thank God that I got to go back because I love that environment and the people so much. The music last week was superb. The worship team did a great job. Afterward, we went to Pioneer's Park for a picnic and an afternoon spent with friends. In the evening, I went with a group of my friends to the Morgan Wallen concert. That was very fun. Pinnacle Bank Arena was filled with country music fans, singing their hearts out to their favorite songs. Everyone's outfit was great, and all 10 of us had a great time. Morgan and ERNEST played Cowgirls, a special song that connects to one of my friends back home, and I sang my heart out on that one. I was able to sing along since I had been listening to the music for a few months, even though I didn't know I was going to go to the concert. Overall, it was a memorable night. 

On Sunday I had some appointments with some mentors of mine. My old boss and my "college mom" (basically) were some of the highlights of the day, as I got to sit down with them and talk about my thoughts and feelings about going abroad. They encouraged me as I grappled with the fact that I will be leaving for so long, and I'm so incredibly grateful to have such great spiritual mentors in my life. That evening I went line dancing, something that I haven't been able to do in months, with a small group of some of my best friends. I am now reminded of how much I love that activity. The loud music, everyone learning or dancing to the songs, and the constant movement are such a fun experience. The energy in the room is electrifying, and the whole night is a good workout. I spent quality time was spent with some of the people I love and we had a wonderful time. 

Monday was filled with some more formal meetings with faculty at Union, just to make sure that everything was set for me to go over to Italy. I met with SFS to nail down a financial plan and met with my advisor to figure out my classes for the year. I wanted to be sure that by the end of this, I would come out with a Foreign Language Minor without any issues. Plus I got my school picture taken, and the photographer said I had "the Britain smile" (for context, he knew my parents). That evening I visited one of the associate chaplains and his wife. It was a lovely and peaceful time, soon juxtaposed with a loud and chaotic movie night with my friends. We had ice cream sundaes and watched Cars (my choice), and we laughed and giggled the entire time. 

Tuesday was my last day and I'll be honest, tears were shed. The reality of leaving my friends for a year hit hard, and I cried a lot. I realized that even though I am excited for my next adventure and I don't want to be at Union, I still will miss the people a lot. Doing college without my college friends will be weird, but I know I will make more friends, more memories, and more stories to come back with in a short time. So as I cried while saying goodbye to them, I tried to remember that it's not forever. It's only about a year, and then I will be back with them again. It's not like I'm dying for goodness sake. In the meantime, thank God that there are text messages and FaceTime calls because those have been my saving graces when it comes to keeping in contact with people back home. I drove the 7 hours home and now get to spend some time with my family before I leave on Sunday. 

That last Monday night is a core memory I will have for
years to come: all my friends crowded on a couple beds, laughing and watching a childhood favorite movie on my last night at Union. It showed me that God had brought wonderful people into my life. Over the whole weekend, I thanked God over and over for placing such great people in my life. All the friends that I have there bring a certain and different sense of joy. I am incredibly grateful for everyone that I got to see and talk to. Many wished me well and told me that they were excited for me. I feel very blessed to have people rooting and praying for me. I know that I have found some of my best friends at Union. 


My days are counting down until I leave. It's crazy. I will keep you updated on all the preparations.

Ciao, 

Ellie


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Venice: City of Masks and Water

-
Image
 Hello Blog People! It's been a bit longer than I had wanted, but I cannot wait to tell you about my trip to Venice.       For the first time since we have started traveling, Villa took us on the train up to Venice. We got a little bit of a later start, and rode for a few hours. Once we got to Venice, we left the station and started walking. As soon as you step out of the station, you are met with a classic Venetian view: water, a bridge, and old buildings. I got really excited when I saw it, I even skipped around a little bit. I also forgot to mention that we went to Venice while Carnival is happening. So we also saw people dressed up in masks, waling around the train station and in the streets.  As a theater kid, I LOVED seeing all the costumes. I am still in awe at the amount of time and effort that goes into each of the masks. They are covered head to toe, and all everything is sparkly and elaborate. The dresses and suits were inspired from different th...
Read more

Hey Dave!

-
Image
 Hello Blog People!      Welcome to another recap of Ellie's week. Again, not super exciting, but I have some things I can talk about. So let's go! :)  First off, we had 10 days of prayer meetings every day on Friday, the 26th, and went through the whole week. It was nice to get together with people, listen to speakers and pray together for about an hour. All of the speakers spoke in Italian, but we were given translation so we could understand what was being said. My little worship team (made up of me, Natalie, and Brianna) did music a few times. I love playing with them, and it added another fun element to the spiritual moments.       Last weekend was really nice. On Saturday I went out to a coffee shop with my roommates and took some pictures together in Florence. I love spending time with them. And the pictures turned out great! (One is the cover pic for this post). Then Sunday I got to sit outside in my hammock for the first time in a wh...
Read more

Assisi

-
Image
Sunsets are my favorite! Hello Blog People!      I have completed another week of school and got to travel to another town in Italy. It was a pretty typical week, but I learned a bit and it has been good. I can’t wait to tell you about it.       Last Friday, since we didn’t have classes, my friends and I decided to show some of the newer kids around Florence. Our first stop was getting coffee and a coffee shop by the Arno. And guess what! They had iced coffee there! That was exciting, cause it can be kind of hard to find iced coffee. And it had lavender in it! It was really good. Afterward, we walked around the city center a bit, then to Santa Croce, a famous church with a gorgeous facade in the city center. We then found this awesome glass shop that had tons of gorgeous earrings and necklaces for sale. I didn’t buy any that day, but I will definitely be going back and buying a pair. We watched the sunset from the sidewalk along the river and then hea...
Read more