Benediction

I've been thinking and reflecting for a while now on how to "close" this blog. My year in Nashville is over. I spent my five-ish weeks in Erie. And now I'm settling into the graduate school chapter of my life in Decatur, Georgia.

Last weekend, I was out in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico for the YAV Re-entry retreat. I'm still processing how I felt about that experience, but it certainly has helped me to understand some of the emptiness I'm carrying around with me. The emptiness of leaving behind a place, people, and life to move onto something completely new.

My year in Nashville was exhilarating. Full of the completely unexpected. Challenging. Eye-opening. Frustrating. Beautiful. Life-changing.

I will never be the same. I left part of my spirit there; with the people I grew to love, the places I frequented, the dreams and fears that I faced there. In some ways, Nashville will always fall under my list of "homes" or places where my heart feels it belongs. Malawi is also on that list, just like Guatemala, Jamaica, Westminster, and Columbia Seminary will probably soon be on that list. Each of those places has changed me. Forced me to see the world differently. To embrace that which I thought I would never experience.

And like all those other places, my Nashville memories will fade. The places will become foreign. I'll lose touch with the people there. But it will forever remain a part of me. I'll never be the same Bethany who moved to Nashville in August of 2009.

As I've officially moved into the next year of my life, I continue to move onto new adventures. The changes are the constants in my life, and I'm embracing that. So, I guess this isn't as much of a closing as it is a realization that my life continues to move forward. I'll be forever thankful that I took that risk to move away from all that I knew and do my best to embrace the unknown. It was, and continues to be, a year of my life full of blessings and prayers in Nashville.