Sally leaves Scotland...at least for a while

Thursday evening, May 29, Harks and I said goodbye to those of our friend group who were left and drove out of St. Andrews with her dad, headed for her home in Edinburgh. As we drove away, I dramatically gazed out the back window until I couldn't see St. Andrews any more. That night, I had dinner with her family and then Harks and I took a huge long walk through the Dalmeny estate nearby her home as well as along the lovely riverwalk. Since our friendship over the past four months had been characterized by long talks, walks, and runs, it was an appropriate way to spend our last moments together (at least for a while). The next morning, Friday, we woke up before 5am to take me to the Edinburgh airport for my 6:30 flight to Heathrow and then to Chicago.

As I said an emotional and painful goodbye to Harks in the airport, and 1 hour later tearfully watched as Scotland disappeared beneath a layer of puffy clouds, and then a few hours later started my flight across the Atlantic Ocean, watching on the screen as the plane traveled away from Britain and towards the US of A, I tried to comprehend the fact that my time in Scotland was actually and officially over. How had it gone by so quickly? How could it be that I was on my way home, for real?

Even now, 3 weeks later, it's difficult to contemplate the fact that I won't be returning to Scotland any time soon and I won't be seeing my dear friends at St. Andrews for a long time. But then I take comfort in the fact that I know we will keep in touch and, even more, I know that I will return to St. Andrews someday. Definitely in 3 years. Definitely because I just am going to make it happen. It has to happen and it will happen. Scotland, St. Andrews, and my dear friends have left indelible hearts on my heart and on my person and I can't not go back. Even as my heart was put back together again when I was reunited with friends and family over here in America, I left part of my heart behind in Britain.

That's because, overall, my semester wasn't about the sights I saw, the places I visited, the pictures I took, the countries I checked off my list, or even the classes I took. It was about the people I met, the blessings I received, the ministries I took part in, the fellowship and community I experienced, and the lifelong friends that I made. Who knew? I certainly didn't expect that my experience would be characterized by people rather than places and studies. Certainly the places and the studies meant a lot to me. I enjoyed them and I'll never forget them. But more than enjoying and remembering, I was changed by the people who came into my life and let me into their lives. I was changed, in some presently inexpressible way, and, as a result, empowered to return to Valpo and finish my time at university with a new confidence, rejuvenated energy, and supernaturally instilled passion to serve Christ and love His people.

My friend and former roomie Claire asked me this morning if my time in Scotland was everything I had hoped it would be and at first I didn't know how to answer her. Then I realized that that was because my time in Scotland was not at all what I had expected. So, no, it wasn't everything I had hoped, exactly, but it was beyond my expectations, more than I had hoped, and better than I could have dreamed.

Now, I don't know how God works and it's probably too complex for me to ever wrap my head around. And I'm fine with that. I'm fine with not understanding exactly how God works and what role he plays in our lives. But I do know that God does work in my life and that my Scotland semester was what it was because of God's working. Funny how it usually works out that, in retrospect, God's plan is way better than anything I could have or did plan for myself. (Even when I'm such a meticulous, obsessive-compulsive, organized, forward-thinking, multi-tasking planner; I mean, if anyone's plans should work out and be good, it should be mine - right? Not.) So, more than anything, thanks for that God.