Dorm Rooms and Western Civ

Sorry for the time lapse from my last post...I've sense told a few more people that I'm trying this out, so hopefully that will spur me on to a bit more consistency! Here's hoping :)

I am fortunate enough to be in the midwest right now - Minnesota to be exact. Yesterday I flew into Minneapolis in the morning and was greeted so warmly by my dear sister-in-law who is now a Freshman in college here. I got to spend some fabulous time with her, hanging out in the dorms, eating in the cafeteria, and even going to a few classes. I thought for a bit that I was going to be able to fit right in - after all, it hasn't been that long! But I soon realized how quickly my life has changed since college and that I can no longer truly be an "insider" in that world of Easy-Mac and pop quizes. I've since traded in my back-pack for a real purse, complete with lipstick and fingernail clippers just like a real adult. My jeans no longer drag the ground when I walk, which makes me feel slightly dorky, and my "work shoes" just don't get me around a campus like my trusty old tennis shoes used to. The occupied space on the ring finger of my left hand is yet another sign that I just don't quite fit like I used to...and I've learned to shower on a much more frequent basis!

But even with all of these changes, a part of me sort of slipped right back in. The chatter filling a girls' dorm, the late-night conversations, the freshness of Jewel as she excitedly relates to me how she is finding the redemptive work of Christ even in the pages of her Western Civ text book - all of it takes me back to a time and place in my life that has forever shaped who I am. A different dorm, and yet the same. Learning to think, to write, to communicate, to live...learning to learn.

And sometimes I wish I could still just wear my back-pack.