Thoughts On A Summer Night

As I sit here on the Diehm family back porch on a gorgeous night in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, PA, I can't help but contemplate my adventure ahead. I leave on Wednesday for our week-long ELCA orientation, followed by my flight to London Heathrow on Wed. August 26th. Though I'm bound to be an emotional tub of goo as I kiss my family goodbye, I can't wait to be welcomed by my ELCA and YAGM family in Chicago. I imagine that week will be filled with fun, fellowship and a community of Lutheran 20-somethings that I feel so connected to and grateful for even before we've gone off on our years of service.

I promise I won't break into a chorus of "I have confidence in sunnnnshine...." (although, Maria singing and dancing with her luggage on the way to the Von Trapp villa HAS crossed my mind a few times). Still, my life is about to take quite a dramatic shift- and I am so confident, ready, thankful and delighted about the path to which God has led me. After I was "commissoned" today during the church service, I took a seat and started thinking about all my friends about to embark on a transitional stage in their lives. Some, like me, are going to serve. Some are starting grad school. Some are beginning jobs. Some are trying to FIND jobs. Some are getting married. Some are loving the single life. Some are taking big steps into their futures. Some are remaining antsy about the future on their parents' couches. All are in my thoughts as I leave my Midwestern upbringing for my life phase overseas.

Time sure does fly. Salvaging Facebook pictures and saving them onto my new computer this weekend was quite the trip down memory lane. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was eager with anticipation to start my freshman year at Capital.
"Whats this going to be like?" "Who will I meet?" "What am I going to get out of this?" All these questions have surely infultrated the minds of YAGMs throughout the summer and yet....

A YAGM alumni told us at our interview weekend: "Before you leave-- write down all your expectations and then put that piece of paper through a shredder." I have yet to physically carry out this bit of advice, and yet I have really tried mentally prepare myself without letting anticipations and expectations get in the way. I am a life long rule follower who enjoys guidelines, expectations, and bullet-pointed criteria. Its been nice to begin to give up this yearning for control- and these past 8 months of YAGM discernment and preparation have helped me to do just that. I anticipate many more "letting go" lessons throughout this year.


Instead of getting TOO theological on all you blog folk (I don't want to scare you away in my second post!), I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the endearing and thought-provoking Forrest Gump :)

"I don't know if Momma was right or if, if it's Lieutenant Dan. I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both are happening at the same time."

Whether you feel like you're currently fulfilling your destiny, floating aimlessly on the breeze, or somewhere in between-- may you be filled with happiness as you embark on the Fall 2009 chapter of your life!

Shining my light,
Marta


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