In the song Alberta Bound by Paul Brandt it says;
“I’m Alberta Bound
This piece of heaven that I’ve found
Rocky Mountains and black fertile ground
Everything I need beneath that big blue sky
It doesn’t matter where I go
This place will always be my home
Ya I have been Alberta Bound for all my life
And I’ll be Alberta Bound until I die”
Right now that feels more real then ever.
Since being away the last 9 months the biggest thing I’ve missed other than family and friends is the beautiful rockies, and after the next 32 hours of travel I will reach Alberta soil!!
This is so exciting yet really really difficult. Difficult because the people who have served along side with me know me deeper than anyone ever has. They have fought for me, loved me, encouraged me, pushed me to walk more in Gods image been there through the ups and downs and accepted me for who I truly am.
It is going to be really hard to say good bye/ see you later to the squad but also i know that God has even bigger plans for me in this upcoming season and I am ready to see what He brings. I am leaving my people to come home to my other peoples! I may break down and miss my race people a lot because for 9 months we spent EVERY MOMENT together. Its a weird concept so please give me grace as I try to figure out how to balance this all out.
In these 265 days that I have been away my I’s have became ours, these strange Americans have become my family,
New patterns have become rhythms, God showing up in ways that blew away the walls I trapped Him in and seen everything from healing an arm to crying so much that when you finally catch your breath there is a snot and tears puddle in-front of you.
So yes, a lot has happened and it simply wasn’t just a “trip,” it was me living my life and figuring out who God has called me to be.
I am writing this blog to help you and myself be on the same page about how to love me well in this transition and what will be beneficial on both ends!!
- Please don’t set expectations, I am still who I am when I left, yes I may have gained some weight, experinced some new things, but still the same in some ways when I left yet different in others.
- I am really excited to invite people into my journey and all what the lord has done, so please ask! (Keep reading for good/bad questions)
- BE PATIENT with me! This is a big one as I work through how to try to express to others what I still might not fully understand myself.
- Talk to me about your year! I want to hear allll about what you learned and what this season of life looked like for you too. So please, please don’t just tell me “it was good”, because I wanna know! I know that life has continued on since I left and I also know that so much has happened in all of your lives too!!! Tell me about it!
- Ask me questions!!! I am so excited to share all about the people I’ve met, places I’ve been, foods I’ve eaten, and it would mean so much to me if you asked me about it.
PLEASE ask me questions that are not open ended like “well how was it?” Errrrrr good…how was your year. Or “are you sad/happy to be back” or “favourite/ least favourite part?” , “what did you learn?” Uhh a lot
- These are really broad and its hard for me to narrow it down
HERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS THAT ARE GOOD!!
- What country did you like best?
- What was your ministry like in Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Cambodia?
- Who were some of the influential people that you met that you will never forget from each country?
- Best adventure from a country?
- was there ever a time you felt unsafe? how did you handle it?
- what was the biggest challenge you faced with regards to constant community and what did you learn from it?
- whats a funny story about you and your team?” gross story? embarrassing story? scary story?
- What is a big theme that you learned on the race that you will implement into your life at home?
- What was your favourite country culturally?
- How did God move in the countries you went to?
- What did you usually eat in each country?
- Biggest/ funniest mistranslation?
- What did you think would be the hardest part of coming home? Has it been as hard as you thought?
- What are your plans now, post-world race?
there are so many more and I am really open about sharing my stories, testimonies, experiences so please call me and I would love to go for coffee and catch up!
I also REALLY want to know whats been happing in YOUR life since ive been away so please have stories to share with me too!
I think the biggest thing is to just give me grace in this transition as I do the same to you. I may be confused over the simplest things like toilet paper is ok to throw in the toilet. I may also say the occasional “acon” -thank you in Khmer and some Spanish- “necessity aqua por favor”. So just roll with it.
thank you so much for all the support you have given me staring this crazy thing, during and now coming home! It truly means a lot.
See you soo soon!!
-ella
