| Real Entries are hard these days... But, with a few free moments... I am going to make an attempt to do so!
No more late night trips to the American.
No more random trips to walmart to cure some boredom.
No more hanging out at Dizzle's
No more HORRIBLE coffee at Huddle House.
No more Aitch 4, no more small group, no more coffee and Chai tea.
No more walking to the 3rd floor and eating taco dip and chicken noodle soup.
No more Crosswalk, no more SSU, no more Ptown
Life has changed, and sometimes I feel like I owe apologies to those I left behind. I jumped ship before amanda. I knew it would make the leaving Portsmouth easier for both of us. But she got to take the Diploma with her when she left!!
So I moved to Michigan at the end of March. My older brother and my cousin came down from MI to help me pack the Uhaul. Amanda was student teaching so that made it kind of weird that she didn't get to see us off. Dizzle came over for a while and we made a last minute trip to Dari Creme for some shakes to beat the heat. The entire trip for my bro and cuz from MI to OH and all of us back to MI - unpacked and everything - took less than 24 hrs. My Aunt came over with my other cousin and brought some pizza for us. So we had the whole truck unpacked by 9pm.
It took me a while to settle... and I really didn't even unpack much at first. I spent most of the first few weeks helping my aunt go through my grandma's stuff. It was hard for her... but i was suprising pretty stable through the whole thing. I hadn't been up there... they had only lived in this new home for about 2-3 years. This isn't where my memories of my grandparents were. So I helped a lot with that.
Then I learned how to plant a garden with my grandpa. We planted Sweet Corn, Amish White Popcorn, Cucumbers, Pumpkins, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Onions, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Green Peppers, Red Peppers, Yellow Peppers, Roma Tomatoes, Yellow Zucchini, Green Zucchini, 3 kinds of Squash, and some other random stuff.
Prior to all of this we went and loaded up the trailer with "manure" from a local free manure place. The manure was mostly sawdust and hay so it's not as gross like you think. Then I got to sling that all over the field with a shovel. And then later after planting we put some on each row.
So then you watch it grow.
There was already a previously planted Herb garden... so i dug up some Horseradish, and picked some mint and lemongrass stuff. The Horseradish was good with steak... or in mustard. The mint and lemon stuff was good in tea.
Anyway... then i made my Greyhound trip to Ohio for Graduation Season 07! First stop WSU - graduation parties a plenty - Cargles, Trejos, and some others... (well come back to here later in the update)
Then I got to go back to Ptown! This was exciting and a bit sad at the same time.... Amanda graduated so we got to chill with her family, Lissy, Cera, and Cory out at the Shawnee Lodge. It was a fun weekend - but I never got to learn how to play Shuffle Board!!! sad. Cera and I planned her a suprise picnic -Because she always loved those for some reason... even though she doesn't like the outdoorsy stuff too much. I'm guessing it reminded her of hanging out in her backyard on the porch.
So then I helped her deconstruct her life in Ptown, and pack up college life, and get ready to move "to the real world" as she puts it. Her mom came down and helped A WHOLE BUNCH! So then it was back to Dayton with all her memories in tow - much like my trip to MI - we unloaded most of it that night.
So then came Summer camp. 3 weeks at Seneca Lake teaching guys anywhere from 6th grade - HS grads. I also did some drama this year with Celeste and a girl named Megan.
Ok back to the previous statement about returning back to a certain time frame.
While chilling in Dayton I caught up with an old friend Beth Toman, we hit Starbucks and then went to the mall and were asSAuLTed by the Dead Sea Salt lady in the mall. DID YOU KNOW THAT NOTHING CAN SURVIVE IN THE DEAD SEA BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH SALT!? Sure! Rub some of that on my hands! Amazingly you can get the same effect by using a little salt packet intended for french fries.... or possibly even some antibacterial soup.
Either way... the Cargle's party was that night so i invited her to come chill with us.
Well at this luau BBQ shindig party hoopla thing I met this guy named Chad Moore. I had heard of him before, because Nathan mentioned that they would be planting a new church in Oxford, Ohio called the Bridge. I had told nathan before that I'd prolly be able to come and help for a weekend or something over the summer to paint or help out or whatever... but there wasn't really any definite information for me on what the church was going to look like... so there were no guarantees I'd be helping, and no set plans of me going. Well this Chad guy tells me at the Party that I should come work at the Bridge. I'm thinking that Cargle mentioned me to him or something... it was random... it was weird.... and Chad assured me that Cargle hadn't coerced him in any way to extend the invitation. Now Chad wasn't talking about a weekend mission trip or a coat of paint... he meant full-time.
He randomly brought it up in conversation and set the cogs in my brain in motion. It really wasn't something I was looking into. I had just moved to Michigan and was just getting settled there - looking for jobs, making a few friends, hanging out with family... I didn't see myself moving anytime soon.
So camp comes along and I am teaching, and reading, and praying, and searching.
And on the weekends chilling in Dayton. Well I had got this new Strong's Dictionary/Concordance thing. I was chilling at Amanda's new abode... and asked her to pick a word. So she did... we flipped in the book, found the scripture reference,... and then looked it up in The Word. We were thinking it would be something applicable to her life - since she had picked the word... looking for something that would speak to her. Well turns out God's sense of humor and timing is impeccable (like every other attribute). So the verse(s) spoke to me.. and lead to more and more verses.
I continued to search scripture and talk to God about this whole life situation.
Well he continued to lead me to verse after verse pointing me toward Ohio. I had just let go of what College had given me hopes for. Or what the world says it does for you... although almost everyone I know that has received their degree either a.) doesn't like their "real job" or b.) Can't find a "real job." So looking back - I have all the knowledge from my 4 years at SSU - just not the paper that says I know what I know. Anyway. All the scripture pointed me here. All the words spoken by outsiders at camp were words of affirmation that God was calling me to something besides taking care of my family. (and being somewhat lazy and relaxing in MI not having classes or real commitments for the first time in my life).
The main verse was "And they pulled their boats back to shore, left everything, and followed Him (Jesus)."
So I knew I had to "leave everything" but God was giving me a time to "Pull my boat back to shore."
Other verses talked about not loving your family more than God
or not being afraid to speak the truth
God is with me, etc...
The funniest verse, and the last straw read "and there was a boiling pot pointing AWAY from the NORTH" now the story went on to talk about armies coming from the north and a little bit of OT destruction. But the fact that it was pointing AWAY FROM THE NORTH told me in the end that God wanted me to leave the great state up north.
So I made my way through the summer, and ended up back in Michigan knowing that I would have to tell them that I would be leaving again soon. It took me about a week or so to work up the courage. My aunt first, then my brother, then my grandpa. They were all supportive in the fact that I had plans for my life, but still all sad that I wasn't there as long as they had hoped.
I road a greyhound to Dayton the Wednesday before Miami Move-In Weekend. I was picked up by Brian Wolfe because Chad had to pick up some other people from the Indianapolis Airport at the same time.
So Brian and I make our way to my new home. It is probably the only city in Ohio that I have never been too... Miami University was foreign to me. I've seen most of Ohio's other campuses... This is where God has placed me.
So now... you're caught up to about 6 months ago... more to come sometime in the future I am sure.
My grandpa turns 80 on monday.
It's been about a year since my grandma died... it feels strangely like it both happened yesterday and like it is going to happen tomorrow.
You can email me at Andy@bridgeoxford.com
or check out what's up at www.bridgeoxford.com
PEACE |
