“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -Jeremiah 29:11

This last weekend, I went to Colorado for a family event. The day before the event, we cooked and baked for half the day. I myself made four pies.

It was busy, but familiar. Growing up, my family almost always spent a full day of preparation before a gathering, whether it be Christmas dinner, Thanksgiving, a bridal shower, or funeral. There is always a lot of labor that goes into a meal that will be devoured in a few minutes with considerably less effort, but that has never bothered me. Maybe food’s impermanence is easier to grasp than our own.

Much of this year had to do with dealing with the present, but starting in March, suddenly it became all about planning. My housemates and I all started looking at our options for the next year or so, applying to jobs and schools. As our year of service with Sycamore House starts to close, I feel like I’m in the kitchen again, preparing for whatever’s ahead of me. Except I am not in the kitchen. It is not entirely comfortable or familiar and what I’m cooking won’t be devoured in one evening, but rather years.

I’ve been reflecting a lot on the beginning of the year as it compares to now. I have grown a lot. I have learned more about myself (so much that it seemed for a while that I was discovering something new every day) and I learned more about the state of Pennsylvania than I ever thought I would. I have grown closer to my housemates; they feel like family instead of people I simply share a house with.

While in Colorado, I visited some good friends and my college town. Two important things happened there: 1. I decided that I want to eventually move back there. 2. I saw a double rainbow.

In the story of Noah and the Ark, we are taught that God made a rainbow appear in the sky after the flood as a promise to us that he would not try to destroy our world again. I was not thinking of this story when I saw the rainbows, but rather I was awestruck of their beauty. I was grateful that I had come back to Colorado even for a short time. And I was grateful that I got to share it with my friends.  And most of all, I was unconcerned, for at least that moment, of my future.