Roanoke and Back in 3 Days!

Home sweet home! I guess...! Last week I got to visit my home for 3 years, Roanoke, Virginia. You don't know how much you miss a place until you leave it. I mean really...I really do miss being on one side of Roanoke and 20 minutes later have gone around the entire city!! OK, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration...but really if I got all green lights I think I could make it around the city in 20 minutes. I really miss having no traffic to sit in just to go around the corner. I also miss only having 4 options of places to eat when I'm hungry. I liked being able to drive downtown and not have to stop for pedestrians. Oh, Roanoke, how I love thee!!

But this trip wasn't about reliving my favorite past-times, it was an opportunity to reconnect with the people I love and to share with others what God is doing. I found myself driving to Roanoke at 7-something in the morning, just for my GPS to take me to Richmond and THEN to Roanoke. As you can probably imagine, I was slightly frustrated mostly because I missed church. I did catch the last 30 minutes though but I guess that's the most important part, that's when the Gospel is shared.

I was able to reconnect with people I hadn't seen since May. I was extremely encouraged to know that there were people who had been praying for me, following my blog and following my page on Facebook. Who knew?!?! This, naturally, is acting as a motivation to update my blog all the more. In addition to being able to sit with people whom I had connected with during my time living in Roanoke, I was also able to connect with students whom I'd served during my time there.

I was able to visit Patrick Henry High School during the lunch periods. This was a highlight because during my time living in Roanoke, I visited this school almost every day as a means to build relationships with students and tell them about Jesus. I missed the smell of high school cafeteria food...(ok...not really:-))

If I had to sum it up in one word, my time in Roanoke was WONDERFUL. The climax was the dance party Wednesday evening. Just imagine...60 to 80 high school students gathered in one space, ready to dance and have fun to Christ-centered music. It was surreal seeing the very same students that I had "done life" with stepping up and being leaders. It made me proud to see the once young freshman boys now grown into mature graduating seniors. It was an honor to witness the growth that had taken place over the summer. Some of these students had really taken hold of the Gospel and wanted to start impacting their school and communities for Christ.

Though my trip was short lived, it was refreshing to see my family and friends who have impacted my life in more ways than can be expressed. I don't know when I'll be able to visit Virginia's best kept secret again, but until then, they will forever be in my heart and also in my prayers.

Until my next heartbeat,

K.B.