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乡愁谷
College homesickness struggles, especially during freshman year, are not talked about enough, but they affect many, including myself. However, my experience ended up providing me with a unique opportunity to learn how to trust in Christ like never before.
包装准备
If you had knocked on my bedroom door the summer of 2022 while I was packing for college and had asked me if I felt prepared for college, I would have said yes. I had conquered challenging academics in high school, was an obnoxiously social person, and had read just about every article, list, and guide that existed for preparing for college. 我准备好了。 And then, just as quickly as it had been loaded, the car was unloaded and I was unpacked into my residence hall. My family was gone, thirteen hours away, and I was officially a 威尼斯人平台 student. I quickly began to realize that I was not as ready as I had once thought.
悲伤的挣扎
我大学的第一个学期是我所经历过的最艰难的事情。 I was struck with extreme homesickness, something that in my meticulous preparations, I had not prepared for. 它深深地影响了我，影响了我的身体和社会健康。 我感到孤独、寒冷和空虚。 I was struggling to wait for acquaintances to blossom into close friends and drowning in foggy anxiety. In these depths, I often cried out as David does in Psalm 23 as I felt I was walking through the darkest valley. 的 difference was that I was not relying on my God to bring me beside still waters. I was desperately trying to trust in my own strength to get things done and not reach my emotional capacity, and I found that I fell short every time.
活在孤独中
这是一个明显孤独的季节，是我以前从未有过的感觉。 I had never had to move, so I had never gone through a period of such transition, especially apart from my family, and I suffered. I was overcome daily with my thoughts and completely unable to cheer myself up, and it scared me. I was so lost and asked my parents to come visit, realizing that I would most likely be packing up and going home. But the Lord drew near to me in my suffering. He showed up in my parents who wrote me weekly and called me multiple times a day, as early as six in the morning, just so I wouldn’t have to feel quite so alone. He showed up in my home church family, sending messages of encouragement, care packages, and praying earnestly from afar. Most importantly, He showed up in people here at 威尼斯人平台.
社区舒适
的 church body is designed to weep with those who weep, and that requires us to speak up when we are weeping. I reached out tentatively at first, asking for a quick and general prayer at our weekly prayer and praise time on my hall, and was blown away at the response. Girls reached out to eat breakfast (my loneliest time) with me, invited me to their room for tea, and committed to walk alongside me, praying for me constantly. I was shown the love of Christ in ways that I had never tasted before, and the Lord showed me grace even when I was resisting to trust in Him. 的se lessons were hard won, but remain the best things I have learned since coming to Covenant.
痛苦的特权
I did not drop out, thankfully, or I would have not been equipped to do what I have been called to. I have learned to be genuine when sharing my own story, praying that it draws others like me, and it has. I have had the unique opportunity to be brought to the end of myself in order to be drawn to Christ, and I have had a far more unique opportunity to tell others about what I went through. It is a joy to pour into others, and I would not be able to serve in this way if I had not walked it myself.
的 times of extreme homesickness college freshmen face is not talked about enough, leading to an even more isolated feeling of being afraid to ask for help. Though it was the hardest trial I have ever walked, it was worth it to be able to minister to others in this way, bring this widespread struggle into the light, and help others learn the sweet lessons I did. 的确，我认为这一切都是快乐的！