Yesterday...All My Troubles Seemed So Far Away

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[youtube=5oXPgZjm6Uk][youtube=YRJlj8bkx4c]

Finally here!

the trip

Emily and I left after her final ended Wednesday at 2:00. After running some last-minute errands and grabbing forgotten items, we hit the road out of Cincinnati. She drove the entire distance across Ohio to Cleveland when we ate at a Wendy's, at which we ate basically everything on the menu. I continued the drive through Pennsylvania and into New York, where we drove until 1:00 to get to Utica, where the lovely Red Roof Inn was waiting for us to catch some desperately-needed Z's. Once we cought said Z's, we left the town with the intention of getting to Vermont with the 4 hours we supposedly had left of the trip. As per usual, God's sense of humor was overwhelming (and just fan-stinkin-tasticly timed) as we went 50+ miles in the wrong direction. After driving for 2 hours away and back toward the correct direction (thanks to MapQuest's directions to take a road that didn't exist), we were back on I-90 and once again headed northeast toward Vermont.

We hit up a Subway about 1-2 hours from Vermont, where we had a cool experience.

the subway experience

As we exhaustedly and frustratedly stumbled into the gas-station Subway, we were greeted with smiling faces of employees asking us about our trip and encouraging us that we were on the right track and closer than we thought. As we were finishing our meals (again eating most of the menu items listed), the manager quietly snuck over to our table and handed us a bag of something whispering, "This is for the road." As Emily and I took a look into the mystery bag, we found two delicious, warm, fresh chocolate chip cookies staring back at us. We were so taken aback by his quiet, humble generousity amidst our selfish, impatient frustration that we had no choice but to laugh and credit God for the act of kindness.

It's crazy the way He can sneak into our lives and soften our bitter, hardened hearts just to remind us of His presence.

entering jeanne mance

When we finally arrived in Burlington (after yet another few minutes of getting lost), we were so relieved to be somewhere for a more permanent time that we couldn't speak. Emily and I were greeted at the door by GMSers who had gotten back from the waterfront and were immediately assisted to haul all of our over-packed items into our rooms. I met probably half of the GMS crew within 5 minutes, and I apologize to anyone whose name I don't remember, but it was overwhelming and welcoming and wonderful to be instantly treated as part of the team, being told, "We're complete now that you're here!" and, "You're the Cincinnati girls, right?" It was so clear that these people from all over the country have been praying and waiting for us as much as we were praying and waiting for them. Community is such a beautiful thing...

price chopper orientation

After getting settled, meeting people more in-depth than first-name-only status, we had a wonderful brinner prepared for us (the best meal EVER), then split up into "teams" for small group. When small groups were over, we hung out around the common room and watched YouTube videos (they understand my humor!!), then I went to bed around 11:00 to prepare for this morning.

This morning began at 6:30 as I got ready and headed out the door to be at Price Chopper, my new employer, by 8:30. Emily and I waited with another new employee, Victor, and heard some of his story. He's from New Jersey but goes to Champlain and wanted to start a job in the summer to keep working through the year. We met the HR manager in person, Leslie, and spent the next 4 hours watching fantastically cheesey instructional videos on company policy and listened to Leslie read to us about the job and the company altogether.

After orientation at Price Chopper, we ate some lunch and I took a much-needed nap before running with some friends around the city. The weather has been BEAUTIFUL today, and running down Church Street through masses of people listening to the jazz festival was exciting. Running in a new town makes me feel like I'm an actual resident of the place, accustomed to the routes and part of the community. Needless to say, I was glad to be experiencing the city and weather with a group who loves running like I do.

prayer requests

I am SO THANKFUL for all of the support all of you have been giving me! I'm so close to my goal of $800 for the first payment, I don't have much of my own money to use for this period. Unfortunately, I'm still behind and the next period (June 18) requires $600. Could you be praying with me about trusting God to come through on this money? If He wants me to earn it through working at Price Chopper, I need patience and humility to accept that I won't be taking any money home with me after the summer, which will make expenses next year a bit tricky. If He wills to provide for me at the "11:59:59" (the last second), I need patience to trust that He'll come through.

Another prayer request would be for next weekend, which is Team Weekend. My team will be taking a trip to....*drum roll* BOSTON!! For those of you who know me well, Boston is perhaps my favorite city in the country. We are looking for somwhere to stay (preferably with someone for free, but there are 6 of us) and could use prayer to get to, around, and back from Boston safely. My mind was bottled (yes, like a ship) when I realized just how quick the drive would be from here: only 3 hours!! I'm used to driving 14+ hours from Dayton to see the lovely city, so shortening the drive by 11 hours sounds incredible.

Love you all, and enjoy the sloth YouTube gem we watched last night (sorry, Fay...)

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