The Further Adventures Of…

Film school is going great. I know that’s the question you all wanted answered, so there it is. It’s way too early to predict much in the way of the people I’m working with or the classes I’m taking, but I see nothing but positive signs. There’s a tremendous sense of gratitude from everyone there, even (or especially) the faculty, since ours is the first semester to be held in the brand-new SCA building, which is the biggest, most advanced cinema school complex in the world. There’s nothing like it anywhere. This also means that our curriculum is updated and (from the look of it) greatly improved, which some older students have apparently been grumbling about. The more I learn, the more I wonder if USC staying my admission until the Spring wasn’t actually a compliment.

We’re about to go into a month of heavy visits, which Corelyn and I are both thrilled about. We’ve got Billy, Cor’s mom, my parents, and Katie Meyer, among others, all on the horizon. Whoo! We can’t wait.

In a bit of sad news, it seems Brendan is going to be leaving the West Coast in a matter of weeks and moving back East, his hand has been forced by some practical matters. It’s sad to see him go, but it seems that he’s looking forward to being back on familiar turf. Prayers for his safety in travel would certainly be great.

Corelyn and I, on the other hand, ain’t goin’ nowhere. Our visit back home over Christmas, we knew, would be a turning point in our adjustment to life out here, but we weren’ sure whether it would be a blessing or a further trial; we know now it was the former. Yes, we loved seeing many of you again, yes we were happy to revisit these places we grew up in, but we both agreed that our arrival at LAX felt like coming home. Exhausted, we crashed in our bedroom jubilantly, ordered pizza, and spent the rest of the day in bed reading. California is a fascinating place, and with the cloud of nostalgia lifting from our comparison of our life on the East Coast to this one, we begin to see clearly that the Lord has us right where He wants us. We can see that Corelyn hates cold weather, that I love the ocean and big cities, that we both love Becca and Rachel Lear (among other people), and that we may have found a real home in this place.

I hope he doesn’t mind me saying it, but I feel sincerely bad for Brendan. He is leaving an amazing state, one which I am certain he would come to love if there was some way he could have given it more time. Newness is always scary, as I mentioned in my last entry, and it’s made even worse when the option of running back to what you’re more used to is always present. There is always pain involved in embracing uncertainty, but this hardship is something the Lord simply demands, and we must not come up short. I don’t know what happens to people whom the unknown vanquishes before they have a chance to see the other side of it, but I do not intend to find out. Corelyn and I physically arrived months ago, but now…now we are here.

Let’s do this thing.