Transition News

Transition News:  My placement site has asked that I be reassigned.  Not because they don’t like me, but because they consider this a mismatch between the internally focused person they want to fill this position and my gifts and skills not to mention my focus on the missionary program.  So I will be in Missouri for 8 weeks give or take 4.  In those weeks I will have an amazing time.  I don’t know how long I will be home, but I will make the most of it.  I am going to spend so much time with my nephews and other family members, I will go to high school girls’ soccer games, I will go to a Sporting KC game, I will visit my sister in West Plains, MO, I will hold Flint, and will watch Paw Patrol with my O-zone.   

However, I will miss my friends that I have made here.  One of my new friends asked me if I was angry that I had to leave. She asked if I was angry at the way things worked out.  I told her no, and at this time would like to quote Imagine Dragons song Every Night, which expresses my feelings, “If you can find a reason/ let me know/I won’t blame you/ I’ll just turn and go,” and that is what I am doing. 

About 10 months after having my femur nailed, the orthopedic surgeon said that I no longer had to come in for checkups, and that I could walk out of his office and forget that had ever happened. Of course I couldn’t forget.  I have always remembered about my femur, just like I will always remember my time living in California.

Something very important that I have learned comes from the wisdom of a friend, or maybe the inquisitiveness of that friend.  One evening she asked me, “Are you an introvert or an extravert?”  I choked back a laugh as I thought why would anybody ever even consider the possibility of me being an extravert.  

As she defended her question, I realized that she was right, I had never acted shy or introverted around the people who are now my closest friends in Davis.  I went out of my comfort zone, on to a learning edge, to make friends in Davis.  Usually I am brutally shy, but I think that being open right from the get go is a way to build community. 

I have learned that it is important to not be shy.  I am not seeking approval from any one.  It is ok to be an introvert, and ultimately I am, but like most things, I need to claim my United Methodist-ness and be a person of the extreme middle.  I am shy and introverted but I should lean towards extroversion and not being so shy, because I can’t build community when I am not involved myself.