Shifting

There's a very good chance my traditionally (mostly) reliable Thursday posts are going to become traditional and mostly reliable Friday posts. Thursdays are a lot busier these days and if you remember, the Thursday thing started when I was in college and there was a nice break for writing between two things in the middle of the day. There's still time on Thursdays, if I tried, but generally, Fridays are pretty calm (so far) and don't, at least, have anything regular going on. Then again, I can basically guarantee that I won't post next Friday, but we'll see.

I'm greatly looking forward to the next week...all of it.

I find myself looking forward to tomorrows a lot more often than perhaps ever before, and it's a different sort of looking forward and being excited about what is to come than I've ever experienced. It's not that I'm really longing for what is to come (although I am). More than anything, it's a calm, assured, peaceful, expectant excitement about the coming day, week, month, and so on. This life is such an adventure.

I've joined (I paid dues) the Hillsdale film society. It's strange because I don't know that anyone involved is active in HCF (Hillsdale Christian Fellowship...our chapter), but sometimes, I feel more at home among those students than with the Christian students.....they just...well, the film society students seem like Wooster students more than any of the other Hillsdale students I've met. It will probably go slowly, but I'm hoping to cultivate friendships out of the film society.

But there is a danger in reading that incorrectly; I absolutely love spending time with HCF students...it's one of my life's greatest joys.

I recently told someone that it feels like I live in a different world now, and not just because I'm in Michigan. I feel like the world is just different for me now. There's a different sort of purpose that pervades all I do, and I love it.

I still feel weird thinking about how I don't live in Ohio, but it's been less than 2 weeks.

Sometimes, it kind of feels like I'm in college again, with more responsibilities and without class. Like, for instance, how I'm "going home for the weekend" next weekend. That just sounds like such a "college" thing to say. But it's true. I even do a lot of the same things I did while I was in college, so it's not too far removed.

But the purpose or at least the time devoted to the purpose is quite different, and really, that's the best part.

Much is wonderful, but not everything....and nearly nothing is easy.

I'm still trying to find a church, and that's a harder thing to do than it has ever been. So much of me doesn't feel like it fits into much of Hillsdale (town and college) and that's definitely reflected in the churches in the area. I'm sure there's somewhere though, where God has intended me to plant my roots while I am here. It's a lot harder to not have a church home than I have ever realized. It was never an issue in college, save for a few weeks at the beginning of my first year...and my church in Wooster ended up being the bridge to my church back home (both of which I miss dearly). Not so in Hillsdale, and my typical roadsigns for finding a church have already been exhausted. But there has to be somewhere...

I live alone right now too. My roommate had his colon removed on Monday and he'll be away recovering for awhile. It's strange, because I've never lived this alone for this long for my entire life. But I'm doing alright. It's the realization of that (the living alone...I try not to think about it too much) that makes me think about how much I don't have around here...no church, no real "non-student" friends, and no real outlet for any sort of social life. But praise the Lord for facebook. Seriously.

So that's why I can't wait for the coming week....three days with other new staff at our regional training session and a weekend at home, seeing people I've barely known for 3 months but have grown to love and miss dearly.

Time is such a strange thing....

-Zack

"yours is the face that launched 10000 ships"
-Death Cab for Cutie