lowlights and london update...

As good as my trip home was, there were some low points of the trip.

* Cancer. I found out that my grandmother, my dad's mom, has Basal Cell cancer around her eyes. It's gone pretty deep. They are having to remove her eyelid and do major reconstructive surgery. Please pray for her.
* Displaced. I felt like I was displaced for a large part of the trip. Kinda like I had been gone so long that I didn't belong anymore. And like I had changed so much so why hadn't everyone else, or why hadn't the city.
* Best friends? Not knowing if I could still call my best friend "my best friend." We hadn't really talked for a long time and I felt so far removed from her life that I wasn't sure what to call her. It was strange to go back and realize that she had been seeing someone new for 4-5 months and I didn't really know anything about him. I had known all her boyfriends from the very beginning. It was also strange to see the ways in which she changed as well over the last year. It felt to me, at times, a little bit like I was "competition" for some of her new friends that I didn't know but that had been there during these changes, had witnessed them, had walked her through them, and already knew Jack. It seemed to me, for a while anyway, like we were strangers becoming friends. It was a hard place for me. But I feel now that we will always be friends. There's a history between us that is long and palpable like southern summer days. Comforting. Familiar. Sweet.
* Commercialism. I was overwhelmed almost instantly with the amount of commercialism and materialism that is on display there. That is the one thing that puts me off about moving back. I live now in a place that is so simple, so laid back. It's a place that seems far removed from the American Dream and society's scramble to achieve it.
* Failed plans. I didn't get to see everyone that I wanted to see or do everything I wanted to do or eat everything that I wanted to eat. But everything I did get to do was all stuff I wanted to do. So I am very grateful.
* Some things never change. I went out with an old friend from high school, with whom I have a little bit of history, and realized that he hasn't really changed at all. He would be such a good guy, if only he would grow up in some ways.
* Chiefs. Yes, they did make it to the playoffs. But why did they have to lose in the first round and do it so horribly none the less. Come on! An entire first half without any first downs? What is that? That's not football; that's like summer without sunshine or life without faith! Completely hopeless!
* Leaving. I hated leaving. I was just getting used to being back home and getting used to being with old friends again. But like I said before, once I got back to Alaska and saw friends from here I was glad I came back.

And now for an update on my trip to London in April. I applied for the summit and for the scholarship last Tuesday or Wednesday. I find out if I am accepted to go to the summit sometime before this coming Tuesday. I am not sure if I find out about the scholarship at the same time or if I have to wait on that. But I am still fairly confident that I will go to the summit regardless of the scholarship if I am accepted to attend. It's kind of nerve-wracking, this waiting is. It seems like I am almost constantly checking my UAA email account. It's ridiculous! Please continue to pray. In the event that I am accepted, I already have over $100 promised to me by people willing to help me get there! And for that, I am very grateful!