hugging friends and family!!!!
Hallelujah!
I know the original date was Dec 5th, but that changed.. Dec 3rd is official and my flight home is booked!
Just a few (11) things I’m looking forward to at home:
1. Most important of all, spending time with all the people I’ve missed! No more time differences, lack of communication, or thousands of miles apart.
2. Driving in my car ALONE with windows down and music loud. (That is, if I still remember how to drive.) I’ll have to catch up on all the new songs from the past year.
3. Planning a camping trip with my brother.
4. Salmon and spinach. Yum.
5. Church/worship services in English with songs that I know. Exploring my many questions about the Christian faith through Bible studies and wiser believers.
6. Running a road race!
7. Blow drying my hair, picking out a cute outfit and make up to go grab lunch with a friend.
8. Getting my first puppy! (maybe, possibly, please please God!)
9. Coffee shop conversations (at Land of a Thousand Hills!) and farmers market dates.
10. Understanding the culture and not getting lost everyday. Being able to have some sort of routine, expectation of what will happen tomorrow, and consistent relationships.
11. A bed, hot showers, and air conditioning!
Here are some luxuries I forgot existed this past year:
laundry washer/dryer, dish washer, traffic laws, reliable electricity and internet, putting my toilet paper in the toilet rather than a trash can, dresser drawers versus stuff-sacks, making plans in advance, cell phones, private transportation, garbage disposal, personal space, drinking water from a faucet, choosing what and when I want to eat or do something, not standing out everywhere I go, buying a replacement rather than relying on duct tape, anything besides a sports bra and Chacos, a REAL towel …. the list goes on!
For everything I’m excited for at home, there are so many things about the Race that I’ll miss.
This has been the most incredible, humbling, adventurous, challenging, Christ dependent, CRAZY year of my life.
Quote of the day from my travel journal yesterday:
Though I have seen the oceans and mountains, though I have read great books and seen great works of art,… there is nothing greater or more beautiful than those people I love. –Christopher de Vinch
Thank you to every single person who donated a dollar, a prayer, a supportive email, ‘liked’ a picture on Facebook or left me a blog comment, sent encouragement when I needed it or just because you felt like it. Thank you to every person who is going to hug me and listen to my stories and the way God worked this year on Dec 3rd when I get HOME!
