leaving Hinton

Once again, I have come to a time in which I have to say goodbye. Leaving never gets easier, I can tell you that. Usually when you have to do something so much you get better at it and handle it better, but not when it comes to leaving people and places you have grown to love. 


For the first time in a long time I spent an entire month in the great state of West Virginia. This place is beautiful and I claim it as my home. As we've established this week, I'm a Hintonite (thank you Nationwide billboard). Coming to visit this place is one of my favorite things to do but I can't stay here very long. I just wasn't made for small town life. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just not for me. There are people here who are pros at it, I can't imagine them living anywhere else. And I love that about them. It wears on me though. Although it's nice when it takes 10 minutes to get anywhere you have to go, those same roads get extremely worn out. And there are so many people here who say they want to get out and they can't stand living in a small town, but the funny thing is they always come back to stay. Not me. 


I've learned so much about myself being here for so long. And boy have I learned a lot about other people. In a small town you really do know everyone's business and I honestly know way more about others now than I care to know. It's crazy how fake people can be. I don't know many people my age or in high school around here but I see them occasionally and as soon as I say something about how I think they are I'll find out about the drugs, alcohol, and sex they're involved in. While it may make me mad, break my heart, or do both...I realize that no matter how cliche it sounds, God loves them despite of it all. He loves the girl who gave it all away to someone who could care less about her. He loves the single mom who stays drunk so she doesn't have to deal with her problems. He truly loves the drug dealers here and the guys who take advantage of girls. He loves the people who party and the people who want nothing to do with Him. He loves them just as much as He loves me. Not that I'm perfect, but I have come to the point of realizing that I am wicked and I need Him desperately. But how do I show them? How do I tell hundreds of people that there is a God who thinks each of them is worth dying for? I'm hoping He will use the small things. If I am faithful in the little things, like how I live my daily life in front of these people, then He will use it to do big things. 


On the flip side, I have come to know other people so much better and I have been encouraged by them. I was a part of the West Virginia State Water Festival this week and while it wasn't perfect or the funnest thing I've ever done I'm leaving with memories I'll never forget. I was able to spend a ridiculous amount of time with the crazy Ashley Brown and I don't think we'll ever be the same after this week! She's become one of my best friends and I want to apologize to her dad for making her spend wayyyy more time at my house this week than his. Hopefully he understands:) And we wouldn't have been able to make it through this week without the wonderful and amazing Kim Jordan. Even though we gave her a hard time we love her more than she knows! I'm also thankful for Mary Jane! Those two ladies could always put a smile on our faces no matter what we were doing and seriously...they're the best (they also have two daughters who are some of the most fun and beautiful girls I know!). I had to have an escort for the Queen's Ball and I'm not sure how but I happened to snag the BOSS himself, Matt Ellison, but I did. He's the man and I'm so thankful for him- not just for being my date but for the example he is to the guys around him. And no trip to Hinton would ever be complete without Jolysa. She laughs at me more than anyone and I love her for that: no one else understands me!


I could go on and on about people I'm gonna miss. I also saw Grace, which is always amazingly encouraging. I actually got to hang out with Tanner and Jordan a little bit which was kinda fun I guess- considering I couldn't figure out the hat game, Jordan almost squirted my contacts right out of my eyes with those stupid water guns, and Tanner was his normal mean self. I guess we can all still be friends though:)


God truly works in mysterious ways and I'm amazed by that. It was so fun swimming in my neighbor's pool...we'd both lived there for years but for some reason it was this week that we started going over there and having a blast swimming with those girls. I also went to a church I had never been to, and I really enjoyed it. I still hate the water slide but if a little boy is in tears and asks me at the top to go down with him I'll do it. One of my favorite people in Hinton is a 5 year old little girl named Nikki Jo...I've never seen either of her parents and she's usually covered in dirt but she's the one who danced with me at the street dance and I love her.


I'm just truly amazed at how sad I am to be leaving this place. I am excited, trust me. I miss my other home something awful. This summer has definitely been my favorite, and this small town has played a huge role in that. I am incredibly thankful for those people who have made that so and I am overwhelmed by how much they seem to be like family to me, more so than blood relatives most times. My God knows just what I need and I have no clue why He chooses to gives those things to me. It's just another reason why I'm falling more and more in love with Him...