I slipped up this week.
Regressed to a nostalgic, YAGM-like state after seeing pictures of some YAGM
friends gathered on Thursday for the interview event this weekend. I let down the barriers I had so carefully
constructed to focus on living in the present and started reading blogs, the
stories of current YAGM serving, loving, learning, being awesome people.
And this Saturday morning, I continued, reading of the
simple things, the hugs, the new foods, the school breaks, the new families
that have embraced strangers, the struggle to burst from comfort zones, the
slow transition to feeling comfortable and loved in new homes.
And I cried. Sitting
alone at my desk, hunched over the technical research articles I’m supposed to
be reading, beside my window showcasing the spring sun and the beautiful
day. I cried for the life I lived and
for the life I’m living, the one that is so different from anything I
experienced last year. The one that
makes me forget that the world is bigger than choosing a PhD thesis lab, than
this grant proposal I need to write for class, than the intricacies of
relationships in America, where people don’t instantly shower you with love
simply for being present.
I cried because sometimes I feel as if I’ve lost part of
myself. The part of myself that could
sit on the hard living room floor for three hours and talk with friends, doing
absolutely nothing, the part of myself who could receive love gracefully, the
part of myself who was thankful for all the tiny love gifts of a day,
especially the ones that came initially as frustration and
misunderstanding.
And I know my YAGM year was not the end of all good things
but the beginning. I know a large part
of YAGM is sharing our stories, the stories of countries around the world, of
love and grace and being uncomfortable but growing in and through that
discomfort. And I know that life doesn’t
stop post YAGM. I know that the
potential for love and grace and growth is here, now in New Haven. That I have friends, communities here that
love and support me in very real ways.
That I can still be grateful for the small things that remind me of the
presence of an incredible, loving God.
In those tears, I remember the immense joy and blessings
I’ve received through so many people in other places. But also the goodness of God that I have been
experiencing right here now. They are
the tears of experience, of growth and a deep sense of gratitude that continues
to sustain me as New Haven becomes my home.