No matter how much I think this transition is easy, it isn’t. 

Many ask, “this must be hard for you?” and it is but in the most indescribable ways. 

Maybe others could articulate it better or have a different perspective on transitioning home but so far this has been my experience. 

Since returning home I have been brought into the many loving arms of family and friends. It has been such a blessing to be home. I love my family and my many communities, that’s why I chose to return home in the first place. Yet there were so many wonderful people and experiences that I encountered throughout the last year that I do not want to overlook. 

The fact is, it doesn’t matter how easy a transition may appear to be, they are all hard. I have never experienced a transition where at least one hard thing did not rise to the surface. It has been no different this time around. So here’s what I want and need you to know about it:

1. In these first three weeks I’ve only slept in my actual bed once. I’ve spent many nights at camp and a few on my parents’ pull out couch. Although I am incredibly grateful for a place to lay my head each night, I am craving consistently waking up in the same place day after day. 

2. I have been visiting with a lot of family, friends and church members since getting home. If I haven’t seen you yet, I still want to! Reach out and remind me. 

3. I want to answer your questions but sometimes it's hard. I want to do each place I visited justice in explaining each one yet there’s never enough time to talk about the whole year in one conversation. 

4. I don’t have words to articulate the incredible and sensational year I had in 30 seconds so I do appreciate your asked questions. They help jog my memory and direct conversation towards what you’re interested in learning more about. 

5. I have spent the last year talking and finding ways to relate to strangers often even with language barriers. So if I happen to sit quietly in conversation I think it’s because I’m learning the worth in my words and sometimes I simply have nothing to add. 

6. I’ve just reconnected my phone. If you’d like my new number let me know!

7. I haven’t made any plans to purchase or lease a vehicle and I am at peace with this decision. 

8. I’m planning to spend the remainder of the summer primarily whitewater raft guiding and enjoying Maine’s great outdoors! 

9. I’m still learning to balance visiting friends and family while maintaining relationships I developed over the past year. 

10. I am looking forward to teaching in the fall but I haven’t started planning for that just yet. 

I hope these updates help you see a glimpse of what this transition has been like for me! I am happy to have a landing pad here in Maine while I work out the kinks of transition and walk into the next year. I’m not sure what the future will hold but I do continually trust the One who holds my future.

More blogs and reflections to come as I begin to have more time and space to consider how this past year has influenced me and my life both now & for the future!

Savanna