Nearly four years ago, I sat in my room at my childhood house in Windsor and typed out some thoughts. I had lived at that home for nearly 18 years, and the new family that was to live there was moving in the next day, and so recording some thoughts seemed the appropriate thing to do.
Here I am now, sitting in a room in my current home, knowing that I will be moving out in a manner of days, and so this seems like the appropriate thing to do.
In the five years that I've lived at the Dojo, I have changed. 22 to 27; college student to missionary; foolish to perhaps-less-foolish. After eight roommates, four blanket forts, pool parties, and many breakfasts, I only count myself as grateful. I sincerely thank the Lord for allowing me to live here and experience this life. It's not often that you get to spend half a decade of your life in a house surrounded by consistently awesome guys. For that, I'm sincerely grateful.
But more than that, I'm grateful for how God has used this home to change me. There were many days when it was just me and the home, and these Dojo walls have seen their fair share of my thoughts, prayers, questions, dances, and the like. And it has been in those quiet moments that this house, and the memories it has captured, has burrowed its way into my being. I have grown bonded and connected with the walls, the rooms, the structure itself, with the incredible sense of peace and well-being this place has been known for. For some, it may have simply been a fun place where they happen to sleep, but for me, it is home, a safe haven of every kind. It has been a place of solitude, a place of rest, a place of growth, a place of friendship. And for that, I'm grateful.
I cannot presume that any other living situation will ever be like this one. Something about this house was unique and special, and while I can't quite put my finger on it (I like to give God that glory), I know full well it will be impossible to replicate. Not that this house needs to be replicated; we grow, we mature, we move on to different things, and this home has played its role in my life. However, it has been in this reflection that I've come to be so incredibly grateful for the gifts living in this house for five years has bestowed upon me.
And so it is with such a heart that I say goodbye. Goodbye to the comraderie, the moments of seclusion, the secret stories which live in the floors, walls, and ceilings. Goodbye to the legends, both actual and embellished. Goodbye to the Saturday morning cartoons and breakfasts, goodbye to the moments of men praying, goodbye to the sheer fun we all had. Chapters of life are written and finished, and with yet only a sentence fragment remaining for this chapter, my reflection has guided my heart and thoughts to simply one thing:
I am grateful.
-Stephen, Sensei Forever
Thanks to all the other senseis for always being awesome.
