one year

August 21st came and went without me even realizing it was the one-year anniversary of my move to Birmingham. I was actually in Florida for a wedding last week, so the day was lost in festivities. Fitting for real life to swallow the moment; just shows I've stopped counting the months here. Driving back to Birmingham tonight, I couldn't help thinking how different the drive is than when I made the trek last summer with my family and a u-haul.

After driving to/from Florida three times this summer, I-75 has become quite familiar. I have favorite rest areas (the ones with nice trees and clean bathrooms, of course). And I love I-20 at twilight. The hills emerge from the horizon and welcome me back to Alabama. Tonight I sang all the way between Atlanta and B'ham, counting down the exit numbers that marked the miles between me and home.

Home. Yes, this is home.

I smile as I think of my skepticism, my fears of moving to the deep south. I have fallen in love with the sprawling hills. seersucker suits. soft accents. seasons. I chuckle as I think of the picture I had in my head of the ruf internship at first. I saw myself sipping tea with students in a new England coffee shop. But I look back on 365 days of God's faithfulness and know that he has called me here. To the green hills of Alabama where football is king and poppyseed chicken is the dish of choice. Where I love to sit at a downtown coffee shop and peel tin foil off a gooey red velvet cupcakes and drink local french press coffee. Where daffodils peek their faces out of barren ground in March. No daffodils in Florida. There is charm and character here that I never could have imagined. Where I have so much in common with students. And where Jesus is ever building bridges between me and students with whom I sometimes have nothing in common.

And I am thankful.