Fifth Wheel

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My freshman year of college I dated a girl (incredible for some to believe, but true) who had a roommate from California. This roommate only stayed at Greenville for 1.5 years, but during that time she was a part of many memorable experiences of my freshman year. A roadtrip to Mississippi and a spring break trip to San Diego (which was her home) were the highlights. I bring this up not to bore you with nostalgia, but, because since arriving in Chintza, I thought a lot about that trip to San Diego. Mainly because the weather is similar (perfect), and I have considered trying to attempt surfing again.

In perhaps the most bizarre and providential moments of my life, I met this roommate on Friday night. In the dark of night I was approaching the campsite next to me when a girl called out, "Brett?" When the light revealed her face, I immediately recognized Hailey even though I hadn't seen or spoken to her in about 9 years. Turns out she married a South African, has been living in SA for about 3 years, and was camping with him and her brother and sister-in-law next to me. Why I was walking over to their campsite is a whole other story which you all will undoubtedly hear when I return. Let me just say that seeing a familiar face was exactly what I needed in that moment. God's hand was shaping that moment. I ended up spending the entire weekend with Hailey and her family which was absolutely fantastic.

Among other things, I am learning on this trip of my need for others, and I am coming to grips with my dependence, at times, on others. Solitude is easy. Isolation is easy. Being in community is hard. I am not very good at it and sometimes this causes me to actively avoid it. It is easy to avoid it when you are traveling from hostel to hostel by yourself. You come across many random people who you only know for a couple of hours. I don't think you have to get to know all of them, but sometimes those connections can be extremely enriching. Anyways, I'm in the middle of learning this lesson, so my thoughts on it are fairly incomplete. This picture of the 5 of us will have to do for now.

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