If you've never been, Boulder is a special place, in the sense that I don't think there is another place like it in the whole world. Boulder is one of the perfect Colorado towns. Every time I drive there I love driving over the hill on Hwy 36 and at the top you see Boulder in a little valley tucked up next to the Flatirons and a breathtaking mountain range. It's the perfect college town built around a huge campus that reminds me of pictures I've seen of college campuses on the East Coast that are built totally out of brick and have a the collegiate feel about them. Having attended ORU (which looks like it was built on Mars first and then sent to Earth) and UCCS (which is often lacking in personality or character of any kind), just being on the CU campus makes me feel smarter. Everything is outdoors and beautiful in Boulder. Drew said one of his professors told him that they tried to make the roads difficult to drive on so that it would encourage people to use public transportation or walk instead of drive. (and it worked because Boulder is the most frustrating city to drive in.) You always have to watch where you're walking or you'll almost for sure get hit by a biker or a long boarder. I told Drew that he would have to buy me a bike for the wedding because if I try to move to Boulder and I don't have a bike they will almost for sure kick me out.
The summers are hot and green and lush and the winters are cold and snowy. The have the most beautiful fall and the mildest spring. As I describe it it feels like the idyllic place to start a life with Drew and to be young and starting my career. So why the unrest and stress?
There is another side of Boulder that I mostly only know from word of mouth but have hardly experienced myself. It's the party, liberal, hard core side of Boulder. It's the side of Boulder that always gives me a stomach ache when I'm there for to long. It's the side that weighs heavily on my soul and attacks my heart and mind every time I drive over that hill. Beyond the normal stresses of moving away from home and my family for forever, how do I prepare to move to such a spiritually dark place? How do I prepare myself for all the challenges to my ideals, character and spiritual life that will no doubt show themselves within a very short time of living there? How has God prepared me to go to this place where I feel ill equipped to be?
I wish I could finish this blog by saying that after processing the last week and a half I already answered these questions that immediately weighed on me when Drew told me about this opportunity. Unfortunately they are yelling at me louder every day and the only thing that silences them are my times in the word and in prayer. For now, nothing else matters except trying to understand what God is calling me to do as he prepares me for this next phase of life. I wish it felt more like we were just taking a little road trip and would return soon.
