My First Summer In Redding

Some of my homies here in Redding. #Summer

I find myself sitting at a coffee shop, which is the next big thing to do while in Redding (LOL), but after two full months living in a city (a.k.a. village), which is about three hours away from anything, I can't help but enjoy this time that I have away from the familiar. 

Don't get me wrong I miss the brisk mornings, the fast-pace community, and the unending diversity that a cluster of cities like the Bay Area offers. I miss my family, eating homemade food, and waking up to smells that remind me of comfort and home. 

If you haven't picked up on the title of this blogpost, this is my first summer away from home (Da Bay). I got a job working on campus cleaning the buildings and resident halls of Simpson University along with nine other students and this whole experience has been a constant learning process. A learning process, not only in the job itself, but practically living on my own without the constant worry of deadlines, classes, and exams, which has been a main attachment that I have with Redding.

These past two months have consisted of getting acquainted with the whether, not knowing what to do in a city that doesn't get cool until 9:00PM-- even then it's still 98 degrees outside and I'm in bed by 9:30PM (because I have to be up by 6:00AM the following morning)-- and trying to stay on a budget. Sure, this may not seem like qualifications in which should be difficult to get adjusted to, but they are conditions in which I'm not familiar with. 

If you are at all aware with the geographic location of Redding, California, then you know how insanely hot it gets over the summer and for those that actually live here in Redding: you have my utmost respect and gratitude because I do not know how you guys do it. Redding has reached a high of 112 Degrees Fahrenheit and let me tell you, that I have not sweated as much as I have just standing outside. Even though, my job here at Simpson allows us to stay indoors for majority of the time, which I am so thankful for, but there are moments when we have clean outside of the building (mostly windows) and I feel like I'm in a sauna. *Slowly dies inside* There are other students here doing other things around campus, such as the Grounds Crew, and they have it hard. Their whole job is working outside in the heat mowing, cutting, pruning-- just about everything and I pray for their souls. Needless to say, they are the real MVP's!

As for doing things in Redding, the church community here is absolutely phenomenal. I attend Bethel church and I am in love with everything the church has to offer: the worship, messages, and people that I get to meet. But since the beginning of my summer break, God has put on my heart a deep desire for a sense of community. Not only with the community that I have with my co-workers and other friends that are staying in the Redding area, but wanting to be a part of a church body. Because Bethel is such a big church, it's hard finding that source of utilizing where God wants to use me in such big place. Before Bethel, I've attended other churches in the area, such as The Stirring Church and Haven, which is a young adult service at Little Country Church. So my first step was to get reconnected and see if God has anything for me there. 

So, I began attending The Stirring in the mornings and Haven at night, encouraged and excited to experience what God wants for me, which also has been a learning process. Because of this, I'm not going to stop attending Bethel church completely (they have a Friday night service that I plan on attending as well (LOL)).

While living on my own, I really want to take care of myself, which constituted watching what I ate and exercising often. For the past month, I've been going to the gym right after work and cooking more instead of eating out. Out of the two, I never know cooking would be SO HARD!!

Now with two months into figuring out Redding (more or less), I know God's not done with with me in this place. With one more semester to finish in my undergrad career, God's never going to take me out of school. Overall, I miss home deeply, but I think God is teaching me to find home wherever I am because He is home.