Bloomington, Indiana, my new home for the next few years.
It's so interesting to see how my whole life has worked up to where it is right now. I remember being so worried about the OAT, picking a school, moving, etc. Yet as soon as those things came to pass I forgot about how big of a deal they were at the time. Yesterday's worries become today's accomplishments I guess! I'm trying to remember this as I start classes and look up against exams, practicals, boards, and all that.
Since being here I've had dinner at an Olympic gold medalist's house. Crazy right? I met a fiery older lady at church who invited me over to her house for dinner one Sunday. So I went along with several other grad students.
First of all, let me say that this couple has a marriage and life history that I can only hope for one day. Wow. The older man got into wrestling as a middle schooler and went on to become the gold medalist at the Olympic Games in 1960. The games were held in Rome that year, and he showed us all his medal. The story of his life is complex, but basically he made it to the Olympics without much formal training because he refused to be dishonest as many of his coaches wanted him to be. He is such a humble person and gives of his whole life for others. He maintains integrity as a wrestling coach, and gives away so much of himself, both materially and emotionally to others. His wife told me that he fixes people's cars, appliances, etc for free as his ministry. They've had numerous people who were in trouble live with them out of no benefit to themselves. The guestbook on their desk is full of names. I'm sure it's one of many they have, which record people who have come for dinner, an over night stay, advice, etc. Gretchen runs a children's Bible program at a local school and is so bright, bubbly and on fire for God. They see the value of loving anyone and everyone. I sincerely hope to be like them one day!
On another note, school is going well. The classes require quite a bit of work, and I can see that I'll be really busy studying. This is definitely the real deal! I'm so excited to learn all that I'll need to know in order to be an optometrist and all that business.. yada yada.. oh yay I can't wait! I know it's going to be hard, but the end result will be sooo worth it. Of course I'm a huge planner so I'm already wondering what I'll be doing this coming summer, and even after I graduate in 4 years. I'd love to spend some time abroad again this summer working with an optometrist. My ideal summer would be a month abroad, a month home and a month in Bloomington. Pretty sure that will not be happening, but we'll see ;) I feel blessed to have friends in my class at school that also love to do mission work. One day I was sitting in a coffee shop with a few of them and we began discussing plans for a summer trip to work with doctors in a 3rd world country. Ohhhhh myyyy. It was so hard to focus on school after that conversation. Can't wait to see where God leads!
Random things:
I love "The Pour House", a non-profit coffee shop in Bloomington. They support missions all over the world, with pictures and maps of countries, people, missionaries, causes they support on the walls and tables. The atmosphere there is awesome and I can be there for hours studying without getting too antsy. It does make me restless to travel, though, which is dangerous. Also, I spend wayyy to much money there since it's for a good cause. What can I say? I'm a sucker for international mission work. Soma is another coffee shop at which I love to study. It's got gfree food, an awesome hippie atmosphere, space to study. What more could I want?
I've been trying different churches and am still in the process of finding the right one. My roommate and I did start going to a small group though, which was great to find. This particular group is mostly graduate students from different disciplines, and I felt really blessed to be able to get to know some of them this past week. Making new friends is definitely a process as is finding a church home and others to support you in your faith.
I've made some really great friends here so far, though, and am excited to keep meeting more people as time goes on!
I joined a co-op grocery store type thing! I really don't like finances, money, business, companies or any of that, slash I don't know anything about how they work. Butttttt, as I understand it, because I bought into this grocery store called Bloomingfoods, I am a stockholder and receive coupons, monthly updates, discounts, etc. I also get some type of monetary gift at the end of the year if profits are big enough. I think that's right.. but anyways they have all organic, locally grown food. A lot of it is gfree and all of it is super fresh, quality food. I love going there so much!
It is really weird not to be in Grand Rapids. Calvin starts tomorrow and I just can't seem to grasp the fact that this is not a vacation, extended trip or whatever. I'm not going to be driving down Burton with its stupid 30mph speed limit anymore, no more Lake MI, chapel, lab work, piano students, Calvin/Hope, ginger housemates, doba runs, hipsters etc. Wahhhh I'm feeling nostalgic. I am looking forward to being back in the 616 around November though!!
Dream I'm thinking about tonight: opening a non-profit health clinic where I can combine my love of Spanish, eyes, the city, people and Jesus into one. Whoa, buddy... we'll see :)
Life is good; God is better.
Rachel
