Before I write anything, I feel that I should say that I am sorry for not updating this blog in such a long time. You might have been wandering what happened to me, or what type of fun adventures you were not getting a chance to hear about. Maybe you didn't notice that my last blog was many weeks ago, in which case I would say that living life sometimes requires us to step back from the world of the internet and just live.
 |
| The first to see the sunrise in all of North America. Was staying up all night and standing in minus 13 degrees Celsius temperatures worth it? I think so! |
 |
| The snow fall that caused my flight to be cancelled. So thankful for this moment! |
I am currently sitting at home in Summerville, South Carolina. My flight arrived yesterday, after being canceled the day before due to so much snow in St. John's, Newfoundland.
As I sit down and reflect on the past few weeks of my life (in which I didn't blog), I can tell you that they were the busiest, yet best weeks of my entire life. It's nearly hard to hold back the tears as I write this. The past few weeks, nearly without a doubt, were the best few weeks of my life. I say this again because it is real and true. I have never spent so much quality time with so many people that I care about so dearly. Each day for the past three weeks in St. John's was filled with meetings upon meetings, events upon events, gatherings upon gatherings, and a lot of celebrating. (I fit studying in there as well- we would all make it a plan to hang out in between study breaks whenever the exams were in full swing).
Many nights in the past few weeks I would find myself going to bed around 3:00 in the morning because of the groups desire to hang out with each other as much as we could before our time ended. In those last few weeks, we really started to understand how special our time had been together, and we really wanted to squeeze all of the greatness out of that time. After going to bed at 3:00 in the morning, I would find myself going out to breakfast with another group of people. The entire day would be filled with all types of varying plans and activities. It was like a social boot camp for me. I have never been so socially exhausted in my entire life, but just like all things, the more you do something, often the better it becomes and the better you get at doing it. The more you spend time with people, the better you are able to understand them and connect with them. All of us international students could not get enough time together due to our unbelievable connections with each other.
As I write this, it is not my intention to make it an extremely pleasurable and great piece of writing for you, but to simply write out what I am feeling. I want to be able to remember how important it is to spend time with people, and to have communities of friends that you can gather together with, laugh with, cry with, and share special moments of your life with. We are all in this life together, and we all have something special to give to the next person. For me, I used to have a lot of trouble feeling as if my life was unique, and that my presence within a group of people was of any additional benefit to that group of people. Now, however, I have realized that not only myself, but everyone is special and unique. This was really made known to me via my local and international friends in Newfoundland. For the first time in my life, I felt like people wanted me with them wherever it was that they might be. I would receive emails (because I don't have Facebook and didn't have a phone), a few times a day, from people asking me to join them at this or that. Similarly, I would invite people to events or activities, and if perhaps one person was not able to come, they were truly missed, and this was made known to them.
It is really hard for me to put the past few weeks, and my time in Newfoundland into words - as you might be able to tell. This semester was the best semester of University experience, and the best 4 months of my life. I can't even imagine how this decision to go up to St. John's, Newfoundland, for my last semester of University will effect my life. Just a couple of minutes ago, I was looking at a map of the world, and it means so much more to me than it used to. I am able to look at country after country and associate it with the very special person that I met in that particular country. I am now able to travel around the world, and nearly always find a place to stay with someone that I have a special bond with. I am so thankful for this, and I am very thankful that God has put this opportunity in my life. I know that this is all part of His plan.
As for you, my friend and family, I want to thank you for coming along with me on this journey. You have had the chance to read about the best 4 months of my life. I hope that I have been able to inspire you in some way. I hope that you have seen what can happen if you step out and take risks that you would normally not take. I hope that you have been able to see, through all of my writings, how important it is to love God, love others, and to love yourself. With anyone of these Truths missing, this trip would not have happened.
In closing, I would like to thank you again for joining me. If you ever get the chance to go to Canada - Newfoundland especially - you should take it. The Newfoundlanders, or Newfies, are the nicest people group that I have ever met - by far. I'm not sure what it is about them, but if you get a chance to go there, there is no doubt in my mind that you will be telling people the same bold statement that I just told you. They will always have a special place in my heart, and so will the rest of the people that I met up in the great white north.
With a warm heart,
Benjamin
