butternut squash

It's been a while since I wrote about anything really substantial. It's one part "I kind of forgot about the blog" and two parts "I've been pretty busy"...the result is that I'm here, with lots to say and not much time in which to say it. So let's just dive right in, shall we?

It goes without saying that I've been up to my eyeballs in ministry stuff. Last Sunday was a successful night about the Trinity--complete with an extreme three-legged race because...well, why not do an extreme three-legged race on a night about the Trinity? It was super fun, but the teens were also able to take the topic seriously (and it's a really intense topic!) and reflect on what our response should be as people made in the image of the Triune God. I was really impressed with how well the youth did, and I'm very optimistic for how to go about covering those more serious topics in the future.

I saw my second production of Beauty and the Beast on Thursday night. It was really great, but I've noticed that the auditoriums (auditoria? Hmm...) in this area are very small. Like, you could probably fit four or five of the ones here into the one back at my high school. No wonder they're always bragging about having sold out shows--the venues are super small!

This afternoon, I'm going to another play. (I know, right?!) This one is called The Wiz. Should be good, I think--apparently it's a different take on The Wizard of Oz or something. I've got a couple of kids in it, so I figured I'd make an appearance at this play too, so as not to show favoritism.

On Tuesday, my good pal (Pasutti) came through the Burgh on her way to Virginia, so she and her mom stayed here overnight. It was so good to see her again, and to spend time with some people I know! It was a pretty chill couple of days, mostly watching movies and eating food and catching up on life and that kind of thing. It was just so good to see her again!

I can't recall if I've talked about this before, but talking about Pasutti's visit made me think of it. I'm a fairly touch-oriented person. I love hugs and just being close to people. I thrive on it. So when I moved out here to Pittsburgh, that aspect of my life was pretty much eliminated completely. I mean, I get the occasional hug from some of my "adoptive moms" here, and sometimes from my youth group kids...but other than that, I am pretty much starved of physical touch. At first, I didn't really notice it, but after a couple of months, it dawned on me that if there's one thing I miss about home, it's being able to hug the people I love--my mom and dad, my friends, even my dog! It really started to be real to me when I was working at the fish fry about a month ago. I was standing around talking to someone, and for some reason, they put their hand on my shoulder for a second. Not even kidding: I jumped because I was so startled by something so simple as physical touch.

I don't know, it's just little things like that that jolt me back to the reality that I'm very much alone here. I mean, of course I have people here who care about me and who I'm fairly close to, but there's just something different about having those relationships that have taken years to grow, where a hug contains within it all of the memories and experiences and late night conversations and resolved arguments and pain and joy of being together.

I miss that. I really do.