Eight months around the world down.
The adventure is wrapping up.
My heart still pounds with excitement, but this time, a different kind of excitement. Not an excitement for another country, a new culture, or a new host family, but an excitement for home.
I wanted to post one last blog to try my best to sum up my emotions on the last nearly year of my life… but how do you tell someone how much you have learned in nine months? How do you describe the new measurements God has given your life? How do you explain what you have seen all over the world over a year?
God helped give me an idea. I was lead to a verse in the Bible this past week.
Psalm 136:1-9
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.
His love is eternal.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love is eternal.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His love is eternal.
He alone does great wonders.
His love is eternal.
He made the heavens skillfully.
His love is eternal.
He spread the land on the waters.
His love is eternal.
He made the great lights:
His love is eternal.
The sun to rule by day,
His love is eternal.
The moon and stars to rule by night.
His love is eternal….
(The chapter continues on talking about the wonderful works of the Lord and all He does for his people…)
I was reading this and thinking about how applicable it is to the past eight months I have experienced. His love is eternal. That is it. Eternal. Forever. Ever-present. I have had so many spiritual highs on this trip… yet I have also hit some all time lows and rock bottom moments where all I wanted was to go home. This past months being one of those lows. But His love was and will remain eternal. He never left my side.
Anyways, I made a little rewrite in my head:
Emily’s Psalm
Give thanks to the Lord; He gave my life new direction.
His love is eternal.
Give thanks to God for He turned my life upside down.
His love is eternal.
Give thanks to the Lord for He told me to go.
His love is eternal.
He alone changed my life.
His love is eternal.
He showed me the hurt of the world.
His love is eternal.
He gave me a wake up call to fearlessness in Thailand.
His love is eternal.
He made me a mother figure in Cambodia.
His love is eternal.
He engraved orphans names on my heart.
His love is eternal.
He handcrafted the perfect mountains, beaches, and sunsets of South Africa.
His love is eternal.
He provided life long friends out of ex drug addicts and gangsters.
His love is eternal.
He led me to wonder the oceans of Costa Rica.
His love is eternal.
He pushed me out of my comfort zone.
His love is eternal.
He let His voice be heard through the stillness of the wilderness in Nicaragua.
His love is eternal.
He taught me patience.
His love is eternal.
He made me vulnerable and humble.
His love is eternal.
He showed me grace.
His love is eternal.
He showed me His world he created for us.
His love is eternal.
He filled my cup and let it overflow will hope and love for the nations.
His love is eternal!
Basically, I don’t really know how to sum up the past nine months of my life.
I am thankful. I am blessed. I am so loved by all the people who have supported me and encouraged me along. Mostly, I am loved more than I can ever imagine by our Heavenly Father that called me over a year ago, to leave home, abandon comfort, and go and serve His people. I am forever changed and forever grateful.
And now, I’m coming home!
Hope to see you all in the states after May 11th 🙂
