This week started with a three day weekend. On Monday, my roommates and I found our way to the Chicago French Market where we all tried different cuisines for lunch and then went to a coffee shop in the West Loop (@Daily Ruin) to work on homework. We've been fortunate thus far to be experiencing a mild Winter- very odd for Chicago- so it's been nice to be able to explore the city on-foot without losing feeling in our fingers and toes. I'm starting to really dive into my projects at work by planning and creating content for the organization's social media platforms, drafting scripts for a special video project, and brainstorming new blog content. I'm super thankful to have a boss who is so encouraging and welcoming to my ideas- I'm excited to see how these projects turn out at the end of the semester.
On Wednesday, we took a field trip to the Hull House on the UIC campus for my Diversity and Inequality class. For someone who's grown up going to the city her whole life, I can't believe I'd never been there before. As someone who loves history, I loved being able to check out the original buildings associated to the Hull House, which have been restored to their original glory. We watched a video about Jane Adams and her purpose for opening the Hull House, along with a tour of one of the main buildings. I learned things about Chicago I never knew before.
While Thursday was a regular work day, Friday started with quite the commotion. Those who know me, know I'm a morning person; therefore, I got to work a little before 8 and noticed as I got closer to the office that the lights were off. "Oh I think I'm the first one here, today" I thought as I unlock the door with my key. As soon as I open the door, security alarms start going off and I realize I never got the code to turn them off. After frantically pressing 'off' hoping by miracle they would just turn off, I texted my boss explaining what happened and waited in the hallway for... I didn't even know what was going to happen. 5 minutes later one of my co-workers comes around the corner and runs to turn the alarm off. She couldn't have been nicer about it, but figures just as she says "the police probably won't come, it's been too long" we here a bunch of sirens and see out the window 2 firetrucks pull up filled with a bunch of firefighters with krobars... once they got into the building, one of the firemen asked "who burnt the toast" and so I had to explain "I'm a new intern who hadn't gotten the passcodes to anything, and I was the first one here so I set them off accidentally. I'm so so sorry." Fortunately, like my colleagues, they were very understanding and nice about it. One of the firemen even said "oh, well, welcome!" I felt so bad and embarrassed, but I'm so grateful people had so much grace about the whole situation.
This weekend, my heart was full. Three of my dearest friends from Michigan came and visited me! My first college friend, Sarah, stayed with me in my apartment on Friday night- we stayed up and talked for hoursss (I've discovered there's nothing better than that), and then on Saturday morning we watched our friend Bre run a half-marathon with our other friend, Katie. Afterwards, the four of us went to lunch and I showed them my apartment. The whole time they were here I kept thinking "I can't believe they're here." It was so good to see them; and when they left Saturday night, it felt like the duration they were here lasted as long as a blink. Praise God for forever friends.
Today, Sunday, I went to Moody Bible for church and heard a sermon on redemption. This isn't a plug, it's just a fact that the pastors at Moody are truly gifted. I don't think I've ever experienced the feeling of the Holy Spirit more in any other church- and I look forward to going back every week. After church, my roommates and I went to get groceries (I introduced them to Trader Joe's- yea going on Sunday is not ideal) and then we got Bubble tea (shout out to my friend Sarah Naumovitz for introducing me to it in Grand Rapids). As I reflect on the previous week and plan for the week to come, I'm thankful to have such great roommates, forever friends who show me it doesn't matter where we are geographically or how much time has passed without seeing each other in-person- forever friends can naturally pick up right from where we left off as though no time has passed, and I'm grateful for a truly incredible, incomprehensible, powerful God who has unlimited grace and patience with me even when I find myself starting to doubt and lose trust in the perfect plan He holds for my life.
My goal for this week is to grow and strengthen my trust in Him; for even if my trust is only strengthened a little bit, it's still a victory because it's stronger than what it was the week before.
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