I sat down to write with the intention of telling the story of how Caleb and I got engaged. But life is full, and we are so deeply connected with others. And so, I must begin before we met...
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It was the August after I had graduated from college. I packed up my bags with three days worth of clothes and headed south for a camp, where my church was hanging out for the weekend. We do this to celebrate the spiritual practice of pilgrimage. We get away from it all, make space for each other, play games, jump in a lake, and have belly-flop contests. We practice listening to God and to each other and we see new faces. That year, 2009, we also had a dance party. A 1970s themed dance party. There were people wearing leisure suits, giant fro wigs, and high boots. And in the midst of it all, some people were dancing. I danced around, in and out of small groups of twos and threes. Two guys I had been bopping along with for some time, introduced themselves. "I'm Jon," said one. "I'm Ellen, nice to meet you!" I said. "Ellen, I'm Eric," said the other. Eventually the three of us rolled into another group and another until there were about ten people, and we shut the dance party down.
The next day, being the social butterfly that I can be sometimes, I didn't want to eat with the group that had quickly formed over busted moves under a spinning disco ball. I wanted to keep meeting new people. For one reason or another, I always came back to that small group. Even after the pilgrimage was over, we hung out at each other's houses, met up to chat at church gatherings. One girl, Carolyn, had even lived in Spain, where I was moving in only a few weeks. I grilled her for as much information as possible. 'How will I make friends? Where did you live? Did you find a church? How late did you stay out? Did you avoid punk teenage kids who steal things?"
This group of people was different than any other group of people I'd ever been around. They were inclusive, welcoming, in many different life stages, and had this extravagant way of being with each other (and with me). It felt expensive, no one was texting when we hung out, everyone was interested in learning more about each other, and we were able to laugh easily one moment and plunge into deep conversation the next.
Thus, it was with mixed emotions (but weighing heavily on the excited side), that I boarded a plane in late September for Spain.
**********************************
It was the August after I had graduated from college. I packed up my bags with three days worth of clothes and headed south for a camp, where my church was hanging out for the weekend. We do this to celebrate the spiritual practice of pilgrimage. We get away from it all, make space for each other, play games, jump in a lake, and have belly-flop contests. We practice listening to God and to each other and we see new faces. That year, 2009, we also had a dance party. A 1970s themed dance party. There were people wearing leisure suits, giant fro wigs, and high boots. And in the midst of it all, some people were dancing. I danced around, in and out of small groups of twos and threes. Two guys I had been bopping along with for some time, introduced themselves. "I'm Jon," said one. "I'm Ellen, nice to meet you!" I said. "Ellen, I'm Eric," said the other. Eventually the three of us rolled into another group and another until there were about ten people, and we shut the dance party down.
The next day, being the social butterfly that I can be sometimes, I didn't want to eat with the group that had quickly formed over busted moves under a spinning disco ball. I wanted to keep meeting new people. For one reason or another, I always came back to that small group. Even after the pilgrimage was over, we hung out at each other's houses, met up to chat at church gatherings. One girl, Carolyn, had even lived in Spain, where I was moving in only a few weeks. I grilled her for as much information as possible. 'How will I make friends? Where did you live? Did you find a church? How late did you stay out? Did you avoid punk teenage kids who steal things?"
This group of people was different than any other group of people I'd ever been around. They were inclusive, welcoming, in many different life stages, and had this extravagant way of being with each other (and with me). It felt expensive, no one was texting when we hung out, everyone was interested in learning more about each other, and we were able to laugh easily one moment and plunge into deep conversation the next.
Thus, it was with mixed emotions (but weighing heavily on the excited side), that I boarded a plane in late September for Spain.
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