At this point in the book (chapters 10-12) I began to have full-on flashbacks of life through college and into my mid-20s. I have a distinct advantage of only being a year behind Sophie in all of the school milestones. Our experiences were different, obviously, but the culture was the same. 90210, In Living Color, Santa Barbara… all of this was apparently required college viewing.
Also, while many fine institutions of higher learning dole out degrees for a BA, BS, MS, MFA, Ph. D, Ed. D…. one of the most highly coveted designations is the MRS! I was an overachiever and got my MRS. the summer between my junior and senior years. That was nearly 24 years ago in case you are like Sophie and not so much a fan of the maths.
My life didn’t follow a path like that of the characters in any John Hughes or Joel Schumacher film ever made. Ever. It was, however, deeply marked by the steadiness of college friends in my major and at Campus Crusade. There was a surprising quantity of speech pathology majors who were also in Cru, as it’s called now. This is where may own personal faith took root on Thursday nights for Prime Time, my small group, and Wednesday noon prayer group. College would’ve been very different without these people. James Madison University was home for 3 years.
Just after I turned 25, my life started being marked in the opposite way. This was the beginning of all the moving, with all the boxes, to all the different states east of the Mississippi, and the roots have to learn to adapt and grow quick. It was the unfamiliar that permeated every place and every activity. At first, there were tears and resentment and nothing was going according to my plan!
HA!!!
My plan!
As if!
This is when being a fairly extroverted person is VERY useful in the whole survival department. This is also when faith and commitment make church a non-negotiable and finding one is right up there with finding out where to buy groceries. It’s absolutely necessary. At the store you find the food – some you’ve never seen before in your life – that sustains your body. At church you find the teaching and community that sustains your life. You find your people. You find that each new place is home.
As the title says, “Home Is Where My People Are”, whether you are in the 90210 or any other ZIP code.
How have you made where you are located your home?
