(xaris and shalom)

One aspect of growing up that I'm enjoying is seeing a shift in what characters I relate to in stories. When I was a child and read (or listened to) Lord of the Rings, I loved the elves.  They're mysterious! And wise! And live forever! Also Arwen gets to marry Aragorn, so there was some major appeal there.   As I get older, I resonate more and more with Eowyn.  Her story doesn't play out the way that she wanted to at all, but it's such a good storyline. This is one of my favorite quotes right now.  My life is so amazingly full of goodness right now that I'm continually astounded.   The sun shines bright.

Two songs and one blogpost which have all been working their way through my mind as I'm back in America for the summer, thinking about what it means to me to be home.  Truth is, I feel like I'm at home so many places -- my apartment at Chuan Wai, the Flip Flop hostel in Chengdu, the DJY team's apartments, the streets of Chiang Mai, my family's home in Pennsylvania, the Kennedys' house, my grandmum's church, the streets of Bloomington, the skyline of Pittsburgh, Wheaton's campus, Colonial Willamsburg... Perks of my life: friends stashed around the world. When I met up with Caleb in San Francisco and felt at home there too -- although I'd never been there before -- I finally had words to explain what home has become: where I know people.  Where I am known by people.  There are places that I love, but I think it mostly has to do with people. Anyway, as promised, here are some other thoughts on home. Blog post: How I Learned My Belovedness