Pilgrimages and Such…

A ton has been going on in the past couple of weeks! My Wheaton grad school finals finished up last week, my mom came up to Chicago and helped me pack up plus drive 14 hours home, and this week I frantically unpacked my stuff in Texas only to run around North Dallas getting ready for my Wheaton in the Holy Lands trip. I’m currently at the Philadelphia airport on an 8 hour layover between DFW and Tel Aviv (so excited!). I’m spending the next 6 weeks with Wheaton in the Holy Lands (WIHL from here on out, cause I’m lazy…): 3 weeks in Israel, then 3 weeks combined in Turkey, Greece, and Rome studying the land of Paul and the early church.

I’m exhausted from the year in grad school and trying to finish up all of my pre-course reading and assignments for WIHL, but I’m so excited about this trip! I never studied abroad in undergrad because I was busy with volleyball and a ministry I helped get going, and in the summers I worked at Kanakuk. So, consider this my “study abroad” experience…even though I’m the only grad student going with around 40 undergrads… So basically, I’m the big sister on this trip. The study part ends in Rome, and my mom is flying over to meet me there. From Rome, we’re planning to get in as much of Europe as we can in two weeks. I plan to come home in 8 weeks, thoroughly exhausted but hopefully having seen some amazing things!

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Why “Getting Over” Cancer Isn’t a Thing

First of all, it’s been a few weeks, but in that time, I got to write a guest blog post for PearlPoint, a cancer support organization. If you haven’t seen it, check out the post here, and also check out the resources PearlPoint has—from helpful blog posts to information on nutrition, diagnoses, clinical trials, and finding support.

Secondly: I submit to you that “getting over” cancer (or other trials) isn’t really a thing.

A few weeks ago, I hung out in downtown Chicago with a friend who was here for a conference. We went to elementary and middle school together as well as high school youth group at church. Through our church, we went on a couple of mission so trips together—one actually to Chicago (we stayed at Wheaton, even more coincidentally).

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