Hello, friends!! Can you believe that it's already February! In one week, I will be in my new apartment. My goodness, how times flies...
The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind. I've been trying to knock everything off of my Boston Bucket List! I have really enjoyed spending time with friends in these last moments in Quincy. Some of my adventures have included skiing for the first time, snow tubing, a spontaneous trip to NYC to see Times Square and some friends from high school, eating fish and chips for the first time, taking Melanie through Boston's Freedom Trail, walking all of Harvard's campus, finding cute coffee shops and restaurants in the area...I've done a lot in a short amount of time! This week I'm planning on going to the Boston Symphony Orchestra (my friend got us free tickets), eating at Top of the Hub (the restaurant on top of the Prudential Center), and ice skating on the Frog Pond in Boston this week.
I was taking a walk the other day and got to thinking about my time here in Quincy. I won't go too far into it because that's the plan for next week (my last week of this blog!) but let's just say leaving and preparing to leave Quincy has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. I've only spent about a year here, but it was the most difficult/wonderful/life changing year of my life. A friend of mine commented on one of my Facebook statuses about coming back to Chicago and said: "So happy you're comin back and changed, just the way you've been praying for." That's exactly what I had prayed for. I remember being in the car with my friend Roxanne on the way to Quincy and talking about how I wanted this time to be a time of change. I wanted to come back home different, improved, transformed. This place has been a wonderful home for me and to think that I'll be leaving in 6 days makes me sad, but I know that God has plans for me in Chicago.
I can already see that God has plans for me there. I'm excited about my job. I'll be the Administrative Coordinator at the Divisional Headquarters of The Salvation Army in Chicago for the Women's Department. Also, God has brought me and a friend from college together again, and I'm so looking forward to seeing what God does through that. I'm excited to head back to the Blue Island Salvation Army to be a part of what God is doing there. Many good things ahead, I am sure.
One of the biggest changes that's occurred since coming to Quincy has been my now healthy lifestyle. It's been quite the battle and continues to be just that. But 40+ pounds lost, a 5K conquered, and a more healthy outlook on food and exercise, I'm still moving forward. I've started training for a 10K which I hope to run with some friends in April. A 10K!!! Who would have thought that would be possible? I remember thinking that exact thing about the 5K, and I totally did that. So I know that a 10K is possible. I've been following a training program that I downloaded on the phone. It was super cute...the other day I was at the gym on the treadmill working on my training, when an older man (maybe 70 years or older) stepped onto the treadmill next to me. I was running and he was walking, and I noticed that he would look over at me every so often and smile. After about 30 minutes, he turns to be and says, "Well young lady, it looks to me like you're ready for a marathon!" I smiled and laughed and told him that I was training for a 10K. It was quite encouraging, and I told him that he gave me a self esteem boost and would make a great trainer : )
Any way, I was talking with a friend last week, and she described how sometimes she'll have really great days and then after those great ones, she'll have some pretty terrible ones. Spiritual Warfare 101, my friends. Some days of moving forward in obedience toward God, ready and willing to do and be whatever God wants, surrendered, making huge strides...then the enemy throws some wrenches in, tries to knock you off track, tempts you with what you used to try and find fulfillment in. That's the battle I've found myself in. Trying to stay on track toward a healthy lifestyle while distractions and obstacles get thrown into my path. But I'm fighting with God's strength. I will run this 10K! I will lose all the weight that I need to! So this week, I'm continuing my training. Prayers are appreciated not only for that, but for the exciting transition that is ahead of me!
