Someone mentioned to me last week that I’m considerably different this year. It’s true; I’ll never be the same person I was two years ago when I was last at Messiah. But, be assured, dear friends, that I’m still Desiree. I still love coffee dates and going for walks by the Breeches and baking cookies for people I love and writing notes and knitting scarves and taking pictures and staying up late for important conversations. And I still love different cultures and listening to stories and road trips. But now, also, I love cities and living in them, even more than I did. And I want to understand the problems in the cities more. And I care about poverty in a more personal way and I want to spend my time with refugees and immigrants and newcomers and with people whose lives are really different than mine. And I really don’t like shopping and I really love cooking ethnic foods now. And I’m a little more introverted and a little less talkative. This is all to say, I’m more me than ever, and I’m trying to draw closer to the things that Jesus cares so much about.
These last few weeks have been filled with important things. I’ve finally narrowed down my schedule to 13 credits, tutoring refugees in Harrisburg, Human Rights Awareness, a cell group, and a small group. Most of my free time has been spent with two women who are here from Thailand, exploring some Asian grocery stores in the area and showing them around, as well as a few ESL sessions. It’s been so much fun adopting a Thai mindset again, speaking Thai again, and getting lessons from genuine Thai cooks! They’ve been keeping me busy, but I’ve really been enjoying getting to know them.
Some recent highlights:
*an open house SoJo had for our neighbors! We invited all our wonderful neighbors over for cookies and lemonade one Sunday afternoon and it was great to meet them!
*a conference on combatting human trafficking!
*a discussion panel on immigration with friends from MCC!
*Kipona art festival in Harrisburg!
*reconnecting with people I haven’t seen in over a year!
*“girls weekend” with Mom and Danielle in Philly!
*Emily’s amazing bread!
