Homesick

After doing some research--- (or maybe just wikipedia) Berkeley is one of the top three most liberal cities in the US. There's a culture here that goes back decades. This city is where students first learned to voice their rebellious spirits against an oppressive society, home of the free speech movement, of labor reforms, of political activism in ionno how many different areas. I still can't believe I chose Berkeley, after a whole year of being here. I still can't believe that, being who I am and having grown up in the way that I did, that I would end up here. Cuz to be honest, when I compare Berkeley and PV, I can't think of any two cities that are any more different. Compare Berkeley with Palos Verdes-- rich city of lawyers, doctors, and businessmen by the beautiful Pacific Coastline, conservative in every way.
It's so crazy the amount of culture shock that I face whenever I fly home or fly back to Berkeley after a long vacation. People in Berkeley are SO different from people back at home, the weather is different, the
A lot of times, I find myself judging people in one city or the other city, comparing people in PV to people in Berkeley or vice versa. I yearn so much to see the spiritual accountability, the passion that I could see so transparently in people back at home here in Berkeley, and I am easily disappointed when I don't see it immediately. But God is faithful, and He is the same here and in PV. Just the other day, I was reading the story of Jesus's healing of the centurion's servant in Matthew 8. The centurion, having waited probably hours to see Jesus, considered his troubles unworthy of Jesus's time, and believed that Jesus could heal his servant with a simple word. Jesus, seeing the centurion's great faith, said to him, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." Man, if I could only have faith like that of the centurion that God would work miracles in Berkeley. I was so humbled by my lack of faith, and assured that God will work wonders in Berkeley if I believe it with all my heart-- that He doesn't need me to fight for Him, but that if I am faithful, He will fight for me.
Three more weeks of my freshman year of college. How crazy is that..
and despite how much I may be sick of being here, and wanting to retreat until I can go home, I need to ask God to give me His heart for this place. I need to be able to see how much His heart breaks for the people here, and trust that all that He has called me to do He has equipped me to do.
"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." Romans 8:26
:)