some basement dwellers and a disney singalong, with a side order of belonging

Growing up in Brantford means one thing..okay, it means a lot of things: you know that the bus station is more than just a method of transportation - it's home to the best fry stand in town, you know that there will most definitely be a Tim Hortons within two blocks of wherever you find yourself at any given time, it means that you know going under the Lorne bridge at night is just asking for trouble, and you know that construction on King George Rd was the worst idea the city ever had. 
But above all that, you know that at some point in your life you wanted nothing more than to leave. Escape the four walls it felt like were created within the likes of Paris Rd, Powerline, Wayne Gretzky Pkwy and the far side of Eagle Place. Most of us do in fact leave, but that same lot..we come back. 

I did just that - leave. I did the second part too - I came back. 
However, I will tell you this, I came back for different reasons than I thought I would as a university student. I thought I'd be coming back to do mountains of laundry and pillage my grandmother's pantry but instead I found myself coming back for something I never would've expected. 
My excitement for the weekend not-so-gradually shifted from being about sleeping in my own bed and doing laundry, but instead, it quickly became about going home.   
I don't mean home to my house, I mean home to my church.
Never in a million years did I think that a group of sarcastic, energetic, Jesus-lovin'-go-getters found in the basement of an old mall would be the people that I would come to call family...Well.. I guess if the shoe fits! 

I have been completely accepted, teased, and loved just for being me. And I have been endlessly encouraged as I figure out just who that 'me' really is! I have been surrounded by wonderful people that I now can't imagine my life without. I just keep thinking about the song from Camp Rock...quit judging me and just read the lyrics:

"I've always been the kind of girl
That hid my face
So afraid to tell the world
What I've got to say

But I have this dream
Right inside of me
I'm gonna let it show, it's time
To let you know

This is real, this is me
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, now
Gonna let the light, shine on me
Now I've found cause who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I want to be
This is me"

Since joining Freedom House a few months ago, I have helped with a 3-day winter carnival we locals call  Frosty Fest, a completely unrelated turkey bingo, a fiftieth birthday party, a week of prayer, and most recently, a massive Easter egg hunt..and each time I find myself thinking how much I love the feeling that I'm part of something so much bigger than myself.   But as much as these events and such are about more than little ol'me, in doing them, with my fellow Freedom Housers, I'm learning SO much about who I am and who I've been created to be. 

It's been an adventurous gong show and a half, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the whole world.

The best part is.. it's just getting started.

Cheers.