I recently went on a very fun journey to my old stomping grounds. I spent a day in the town I grew up in, Cameron, Missouri. I also spent a few days in Bentonville, Arkansas, where I lived for my 9th through 11th grade years. It was an adventure for me. I hadn’t been back to Cameron since probably 1991. It was somewhere I had always wanted to go back to. It represents childhood to me. We moved around a lot growing up. I lived in probably 25 different places by the time I was 10 years old. But we stayed in Cameron for 6 years, longer than anywhere else I lived growing up. I have lived in my current home for 8 years, so that is the new record for me! 
We did, however, live in 3 different houses while we were in Cameron! And I was able to remember where all of them were, and drive by and take pictures. I visited some old friends, who treated me like family, as did their parents who also remembered me and embraced me as their own. It felt so nice! It definitely made me want to go back again. And soon. Hey, tickets to Kansas City are pretty cheap on Southwest!
Bentonville was fun too. I got to tour all the new growth areas and still drive by my old hangouts. I ate lunch at Mazzio’s, my after school workplace there. I LOVED that place, and the pizza is still fantastic. I got to see old friends at my 15 year high school reunion. I also saw many familiar faces at church the next morning. The highlight for me was getting to hug the neck of one of my Christian mentors. I told her she’s always one of my examples when I have to tell about my Christian walk, and she said she was proud of me.
I wish I could describe better how good it felt to take that trip. I missed my family, of course, but it was truly a homecoming for me and it made me look at life in a different light. Now I am back in the future for me. I can see where I was then and where I am now. I’ve grown a lot in every area of my life (including physically, HA!) and I’m pretty proud of me too.
