As I’m sitting in a hotel room in Miami, Florida, before I catch a plane TOMORROW (Wednesday) back to NEW JERSEY, I would like to say a couple of specific things..
Of course first and foremost, God deserves all the praise for these indescribable past eleven months, but I have been thanking Him every day since I left. I wanted to take this time to thank all the people back home that helped make this trip possible for me.
To My Family:
Thank you mom and dad for never growing tired of dropping everything you were doing if an unplanned skype call started coming in from me. I can’t describe the love I felt every time you both would squeeze your faces into the space of my iPhone screen and you asked questions about every detail of my experience with enthusiasm that never depleted. Thank you mom and dad for flying out to Nicaragua and being ready to jump into a week of ministry with both feet and complete excitement! My verbal gratitude will never fully convey how much of a support system you have been for me this past year.
Thank you Jarek for constantly checking up on me and sending your encouragement through many forms. Skype dates with my big brother have been little reminders of when I could walk down the hall and sit on your bed for hours chatting with you or laughing until I’d almost pee my pants. You are such a special person to me and I’m grateful for your inspirational pep talks about how you’re so proud of me.
Thank you Jonah for saying hi when mom would put her phone in front of your face, for communicating with me via stickers on facebook chat, sticking things up your nose when we’d skype, and most importantly making me laugh even though we’ve been thousands of miles apart. Being the man of few words that you are, I always felt the weight when you would tell me how much you missed me and when you would encouraged my countdown texts.
To My Boyfriend Alex:
Thank you for being beyond patient with completely unreliable internet connection with me the past eleven months. Never once did you show any kind of frustration with it or make me feel responsible for it. You always reassured me that you knew I couldn’t help it and that you were just happy to get a simple ‘hi’ and know I was safe. When I was homesick and feeling too weak to keep going, you always turned me around with the reassurance of your prayers and the reminder that I should never wish this time away because I’ll never get it back. My love for you has only grown stronger through our time a part.
To My Friends:
Thank you all for not forgetting about me! Every time I would receive any kind of communication from any of you it would make my day. There was not one facebook comment, message, or ‘like’, not one snapchat, email, imessage, or Skype call that went unappreciated. It may seem dramatic, but when you’re away from home for so long, even the smallest connection means more than usual. So thank you to all of you, there’s a reason you’re all my friends.
To my extended family and my church families:
Thank you most importantly for your prayers. Times got hard emotionally, physically, spiritually, socially, mentally and so much more. Without your constant prayers whether it was daily or whenever I would cross your mind, I cannot thank you enough. There is power in prayer and there is even more power in prayer in numbers. Thank you for being a part of my army of prayer warriors. The fact that I made it through without getting a parasite is a miracle in itself! It means so much knowing I was asked about and the time was taken to reach out to me and see how I was doing, ask for prayer requests, or telling me I was missed. I can guarantee it made me smile and feel loved every single time.
To My Blog Readers:
Thank you for making my mandatory blogging feel worth it. Seeing that my blogs had a couple hundred views every time I logged on motivated me to keep writing them. Comments of encouragement and the shared excitement in what I’ve been doing and how God has been moving, would fuel my excitement and reminded me why it is important to share my stories with people back home. Thank you for sharing my blogs with others and always coming back to read the next one.
To My Financial Supporters:
Thank you yet again, for sacrificing your finances to send me on this once in a life time trip. God used these past eleven months to spread His love and His hope farther into the World than it was in January. And it wouldn’t have been possible without your obedience and your financial sacrifice. In addition to that, I have personally grown more than I can describe and I am beyond grateful and humbled that you saw God’s plans for me this year and came along side me in my journey before I even saw the true potential of what this trip offered me as an individual.
My gratitude for all off you is enormous.
One more important thing before I return home:
I know there will be many questions that a lot of you have for me when I return and I am looking forward to answering as many questions as you have time to ask. One thing I ask however, if at all possible, please ask specific questions if you want specific answers. The question ‘Tell me about your trip!?’ is a great question and if you only want to know if it was good or bad, that is the perfect question to ask. However, I was in 11 different countries, working with 11 different ministries, on a team with 19 different people, on a squad with 45 people, I met hundreds of new people and have thousands of new experiences. If you want me to expand further on any of those, you will need to direct me a little better with a more specific question. Also, if I don’t have an answer right away, please show me a bit of grace because it is just a tad overwhelming trying to already have an answer for the hundreds of unasked questions at this point.
Other than those couple pointers, ask away and hug away!
Because the time has finally come,
next stop —> HOME SWEET HOME! <—
