stepping out: annie.

 {annie from annie's musings}

Next up is Annie -- yes, yes, we share a name -- a college student in Michigan. (Isn't it funny where the blog world takes you?) I love what she has to say about stepping out this summer, and I'm inclined to join her in taking some steps of my own. I've found a kindred spirit in her, and I think you will too. 

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at the time that i'm writing this, i've finished a busy day of preparation for my brother's high school graduation party and i'm planning on helping host a cookout with my roommates in a couple days. i've burned my nose - like every summer - and my right shoulder - that part's new - while hanging out on the beach at lake michigan with two sweet friends of mine. i'm technically on my own for the first time, because while i've been across the state from my hometown for college the past two years, this summer i stayed to work instead of going home, and i'm not living on campus anymore.

i realized as i dusted the piano today that, being as introverted as i am, i am not good at hospitality when it involves a great number of people. i love having friends over individually or in pairs, but i tend to draw the line at more than four or five at a time. so the idea of my brother's grad party tomorrow and the cookout in a few days, particularly since i'm not going to know quite a few people at both these events, is making me want to spend the time in a closet with some m&m's, my ipod, and a good book.

despite being an introvert, i made two very good friends in spanish my first year of college, and they are the ones who have made lake michigan and i acquaintances. we headed out there a couple days ago, and i spent the entire day trying to reconcile our time at the beach with the fact that i was still in michigan. i grew up on the east side of the state. the closest body of water to my house is the detroit river, and nobody swims in that. the only time i go to the beach is when i'm in honduras, or once on a mission trip to the bahamas.

as for leaving home? well, when i initially left for college, i thought i'd stepped into unfamiliarity. little did i know that not even two full years later unfamiliarity would increase in size and shape from my small, rectangular campus to a large city to whose shape geometry has not yet given a name.

all that to say, i've formulated a goal for the summer: to step outside my comfort zone.

this means attending and enjoying p's grad party and the cookout with my roommates and our friends - and maybe even repeating the latter. it means going to the beach with my friends m & l as many times as we can manage it this summer, with my family when they visit, and with other friends, too. it means acclimating to my new city, in ways as simple as getting over the fact that since target is over fifteen minutes away and a kroger is nowhere to be found, i will have to shop at meijer, and in ways as profound as getting involved in the church community i've chosen even though it'll force me to get over being shy.

it means i go to the beach, occasionally make the unwise choice of forgetting to wear sunscreen because i never burn in michigan, ever, and end up with a burnt nose and right shoulder, and the fervent wish that i had put on the sunscreen and since i didn't, that i had some aloe.

it means on some afternoons, i find something else to do besides read a book.

it means remembering that if home is where the heart is, my heart should be found in His hands.

those are my summer plans.

what are yours?