Where I Stand - May 2014

Rebecca Reed
May 21, 2014




Just 3 days less than 4 years ago from today, I wrote about the roller coaster I was about to get strapped into. I mentioned having mixed feelings about stepping out of the comfort of the West Michigan bubble to go 133 miles away. I wrote about loving my friends and family and hurting to be separated from them. I wrote about a man I was at the time missing and alluded to the fact that I was certain I'd be with him forever. I wrote about how much I loved band with Mr. Looman, my favorite foods, my favorite smells, and my favorite places to be. Now, here I am on the other side of what was an unforeseen roller coaster ride of four years, graduated from college and having numerous big changes coming to my life in the coming year. This is the end of that roller coaster ride, and this is where I, Rebecca Anne Reed-to-be-Koning, stand now.


I stand in some ways the same as who I was four years ago. I still love popcorn with tons of butter, and have found in these four years that the best is actually air-popped where I can add my own butter and salt. I still favor Italian food above all other main-course dishes. I continue to love the smell of campfires and love going camping, which is probably part of the reason I was in love with my summer job as a camp counselor in 2012 and 2013 where campfires, the outdoors, a lake, and lots of sunshine were regular. Sunsets on the beach still hold precious memories for me and where I am most able to see God, although some sunrises have also joined that league. And I'm still a big fan of musicals, and have even been able to see some big-name musicals live in the past four years including The Lion King, Wicked, Les Miserables, and Newsies.


Similarly, I still love my family and friends. Though I inevitably lost touch with some peers from high school, I still remain friends with some of the closest friends from those years, those that could never leave my heart. Three of them are even in my bridal party. My immediate family hasn't changed in number, but just gotten older. Nick is a sophomore in college now, and as we grow older and more mature, we grow closer; I'm still a daddy's girl and age has only grown that relationship; my mom is still one of the first people I turn to to ask questions or talk about my life.


Yet, from where I stand now, so much has changed. Trinity is no longer the great unknown, but my home, and it broke my heart to leave it after graduation. I added on to those friends that are a part of my heart and as close as family; it saddens me most to think of leaving them now, though I'm determined to not let graduation, or my wedding, be the end. I also took a big step outside of the country during the past four years, going to Kenya for three and a half months. Now that's outside my bubble! I learned and grew so much there, and came back even more passionate about teaching. I finished my dream of studying English Education, and am even more in love with the profession than four years ago, much in part due to my professors and hands-on experiences. I am so excited to go out and be a goofy, dorky, English teacher, touching the lives of students.


Which brings me to the next big step into the unknown that I now make four years later – to Sheboygan, Wisconsin. God is calling me out of my bubble – both Michigan and Trinity – to a new opportunity. I have been so blessed to have been offered a teaching job already, a couple days before I walked across the stage, as a middle school language arts teacher at Sheboygan Christian School. Christian education is where my heart is, and from all I hear the community in Sheboygan is incredible, so I'm growing more and more excited to take this step. But I won't pretend it isn't sad to move even further away from West Michigan, saying goodbye to not only my friends from college but also those whom I love most at my first, and true, home.


The move to Sheboygan also brings more big steps. I have to find an apartment and pay bills. I went through exit loan counseling and, to put it lightly, it'll be quite the undertaking for the next decade. I'll really be on my own – what I thought was “on my own” four years ago was not completely on my own. I have to be a real person now.


If that wasn't enough change, I'll be changing my name and status too. Yup, I'm getting married in January and it's to a man that four years ago I wouldn't have dreamed I'd marry. But God knew what he was doing, and prepared me in these past four years to be a wife and life-partner to the man whom He was also preparing for me. Kyle Koning is an incredible man of God and romantic through and through, and I eagerly anticipate beginning my life with him at the start of 2015.



Four years ago I pictured myself getting strapped into a roller coaster ride where I wasn't sure what twists and turns would come. That ride certainly had plenty of twists, turns, loops, and perhaps a little bit of screaming. I know I could not have painted the picture of my life as it is now when I was 18. But now I step off this ride, and instead of getting on another, I want to think of this next portion in a metaphor that fits where I've invested much of my time this past four years – the theatre. I stand once again not sure what twists will come in this next portion of my life. God is writing the play of my life, though, with all its plot twists, tragedy, and humor. I've been looking forward to this play for years and I'm already on the edge of my seat to see what will happen. Five, four, three, two, one... Lights up!