“Brother, Let Me Be Your Shelter”

College has been a great journey for me, but it’s been difficult in many areas. Those stories are for another day, but one thing I learned from the difficult parts of college is that the support of others is invaluable.

I’ve always known people that have said they have trouble accepting help. I imagine that that must be one of the most difficult things because even when I think I can do things on my own, I crave the support of others to help me through. This realization was made this past year and reoccurs perpetually. I was blessed enough to receive amazing support in my preparations for this trip, and they have no stopped yet! So I just wanted to add a thank you so so much (seriously.) from me to all those who send me a text wishing me luck, and e-mail with advice, a Facebook message remaining me of your prayers and presence, or a phone call telling me it’s all good. You are immeasurably important to me.

Accepting help during this experience has been vital. There are times when I’m completely overwhelmed and need to be by myself to process or relax, but more often than not, I need others. So when I’m yapping about my rash decision to buy a French phone (advice: check with your phone carrier before purchasing a SIM card somewhere else…) and Erin brings me back to the store we just walked up from or I’m talking myself into a hole about the future and Sinead makes me laugh with jokes about cows (des vaches!) on our million-year bus ride to Mont Saint Michel (4 hours, whatever.), that is what I needed. Or when I get a “we can talk if you’d like” text from Matt whose doing his crazy new seminarian life or a Skype chat 20 minutes after she wakes up from Lorena, I know that I always have (as Jackie reminds me!) so many people rooting for me. This week has been really difficult. It has a lot to do with the deadline about staying for a semester or a year coming up (20 days) and facing the reality that not everything (making friends, self-growth, french proficiency) comes when I want it to (aka now), even if in my head, I’ve given it enough time. So when I randomly blurted out my homesickness to friends on the tram and then was telling the same people what an amazing weekend I had and how great this experience is, that’s just a normal cycle for me. Not the most fun, but necessary I suppose. And so I thank every single person who has expressed support to me or even wished me well in a prayer;  I think that while being independent is a big part of study abroad, so is leaning on others. And I am so grateful for that.

Love and Peace~

Jessica

PS As a note, this post was written during the first month and updated today, showing the constant need for and supply of support I’ve gotten

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 11th, 2015 at 8:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to ““Brother, Let Me Be Your Shelter””

1. ewferg17 says:

   October 13, 2015 at 11:03 am

   Always here for you Jess! Something for when you’re feeling blue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko_FpYRVtFQ

   • jpvoze17 says:

     October 14, 2015 at 12:12 pm

     Elena! Thanks for reading and even more for commenting. And for the video:) Thanks for letting me know you’re here