{Thursday, January 8, 2:46 p.m.}

i’m here.

it’s been a wild trip. i left seattle by means of a greyhound bus just before eleven p.m. on tuesday night … curled up on the seat and dozed off listening to Josh Groban, then sat up when we got to Everett and stared out the window as we drove past stop signs teethed with tiny icicles and small sleeping white houses walled by clipped shrubbery, on and on and on. three fifteen a.m. found me going through customs at the Canadian border. at ten fifteen that morning, after switching to another bus and taking an hour and a half ferry ride, i stood outside the bus terminal in Nanaimo waiting for the next southbound bus. suddenly, someone called, “hey, katie!” and when i turned around dom was right there proceeding to give me a hug. also present were jeremy, with a buzz cut and retro yellow sunglasses, and luke, with a hairstyle rivaling eric’s. you don’t know eric nor his hairstyle, but it sticks out for four or five inches in random tufts all around his head.

we hopped on the bus to chemainus, and formed quite a merry troop dragging our luggage down the middle of the main street once we arrived since the drifts were nearly a foot high on the sidewalks. we’d walk to the left to get out of the way of a car coming behind us, and then skip back over to the right to let an oncoming truck pass by, and get sprayed with snow kicked up by the tires no matter which direction we went. and it veritably felt like home when we had joined several other friends at the harborside cafe for lunch. i felt like i hadn’t even left.

then this morning during the break in our class on Luke, Prince came up to me and gave me a huge bear hug. he kissed the top of my head and asked how certain things and people were at home. i told him “amazing”, thinking of my january 5 post, and he looked right into my eyes and said, “good.”

i looked down for a minute. “it’s still hard. really hard, tho.”

his bushy white eyebrows lifted. then, opening his well-worn Bible to Isaiah, he said, “Look. Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. Those who wait …”

“Yeah,” said i with a smile.

he nodded. “Wait on the Lord.”

and so i shall.