Chill Out!!

This past week, I went on a road trip with my mom from Oregon to Southern California. You see, when I graduated and left for Cambodia, I had no choice but to leave my car (and the majority of clothes, shoes, accessories, etc) at my future in-laws house. So we decided I would just have to find time to go up to Oregon after returning to get my things. Being the creative thinker that she is, my mom booked our 6 day girl's week to get the car around 2 home NCU volleyball games.

Being at NCU as an alumni was a completely different experience than being a student. I can understand why people don't want to go back after they're done. Driving into the parking lot for the first time after graduating was a bittersweet feeling. A million different thoughts racing through my head, I sat there in silence. "I can't believe it's actually over." "Look at that girl walking to class. I'm so glad I don't have to go to class anymore. Oh wait....I know her!" "I miss this place. I wish I could go to just one more of Brian Kaelin's classes." And so on and so forth. After a conversation with my mom about how amazing it is to have a degree no one can take away from me, it was time to head to chapel.

Chapel was a totally different experience as well. Not only did I not have an ID to sign in with, but I felt like I barely knew anyone. Walking in to that chapel felt the same as it did on preview day. Unfamiliar (but smiling) faces surrounding me as I walked down to the front row of seats. But once I found people I knew, it was like coming home. Seeing the smiling faces of my Cambodia buddies, friends from classes, and even Doyle; I knew I was home. When I sat in the front row with the rest of the Cambodia team waiting to talk about our experiences, I actually shed a tear. It just felt so right to be sitting there. The worship team (led by my future brother in law, by the way) was on point! Even though I was a Christian going into college, it really feels like my faith blossomed during my time at NCU. That chapel holds fond memories and life altering decisions for me, and it was hard to know this was the only chapel I would be attending this year.

So after the heart wrenching chapel service, we had the better part of the afternoon before it was time to head back to campus for the volleyball game. I had the honor of doing the pre game devotional for the team before their warm-ups, so we got there a bit early. I went downstairs and did the devotional for the team, and couldn't help but feel proud of where I played my 4 years. It wasn't always easy, and it wasn't always fun; But in retrospect I can see that my 4 years at NCU were an honor, and I wouldn't trade those years for anything. As I gave the devotional, I looked around the room and saw so many girls that are passionate about the sport that I loved for so many years. They were so attentive to the devo, and really made me feel confident in the words I was speaking to them. I actually felt like I still belonged there. But then after the devotional, it was back to reality. I went to sit on the stands and watch the girls warm up. I proceeded to watch them kick Oregon Tech in the rear end, which was AMAZING!

Saturday was the day I got to sit on the bench with the team while they took on Southern Oregon University. They lost the game, but they played with so much heart, and it was so much better watching from the bench than from the stands.

The rest of the time was spent road tripping home. There a couple things I need to point out right away: 1) We listened to only about 15 minutes of music the entire way home. 2) Because I think my mom would want me to write this in: I drove the entire way. 3) We had literally nothing planned for the entire way down. We just winged it, and had a blast in the process.

We had the chance to see Beauty And The Beast at a theater in Medford, the play "The Miracle Worker" about Helen Keller, and stop at the Jelly Belly Factory. We also went to a pumpkin patch and picked some pumpkins! But we learned something very important on this trip: NOTHING in Northern California is open on Mondays. Well, that may be an exaggeration, but we stopped at about 4 different places that were closed. Some of them having Monday as the only day they were closed.

But there was something the Lord taught me while we were on the drive. A couple hours into the drive on Sunday, this awful sound started coming from the car. Before we left, we took the car to Oil Can Henry's in Eugene, and got everything checked out and changed, so having a weird sound was really concerning. It went on for about 15 minutes before we even thought to pray about it out loud. I had prayed in my head asking for God's will to be done, but in my heart I really didn't know what that would mean. And honestly, I didn't really want the noise to go away! I just wanted my car to be quiet and run the way it was supposed to. After about an hour, it was time for us to stop and go to the Helen Keller play; a nice distraction from the car troubles. When we got back on the road, the noise was gone! And other than two times of less than one minute, the noise didn't come back again! Through this whole experience, I came to remember that God is so much bigger than anything we can imagine. He can fix even the smallest of problems. But after the whole situation, I came to realize that sometimes my prayers are empty. I bring my requests and needs to the Lord, but I don't always believe that He's listening and caring. I tend to think "this isn't a big enough deal. He has bigger things to worry about." But I forget that I'm his daughter and He loves me. How much more He would do for me than even my earthly parents.

Right after this realization, we passed a billboard that said "Chill Out!!" And it reminded me that nothing is the end of the world, and I just need to surrender things to the Lord.