A change of seasons, a new
phase of life, the next learning period…
Last week I spent the week
with my parents and aunt and uncle in Florida,
and this week I am spending time with friends in Texas.
I wasn’t sure how I would respond to coming back to the US. I didn’t know what was best, going straight
home, or visiting a few people along the way.
But God knew. He knew what was
best. These past two weeks have been
exactly what I needed. God has given me a
small group of friends and family to talk to about my trip first and to process
what I’ve seen and learned this year. He
has blessed me with two weeks to just re-enter this country and get used to the
lifestyle around me. He has given me new
friends already that have impacted me, people that I will not forget. He cares about every part of our lives.
than last week. My first week back, I
struggled with seeing so much money everywhere.
‘We are rich’ is all I could think!
And I wondered if ‘those’ people with ‘huge’ houses knew there were
people living in a heap of trash somewhere else in the world. It made me sad at first. I was a little depressed in the mix of
emotions coming back to the States. The
people I’ve been living with are all spread out the US, the culture here is just so
much different and wealthier overall than most of the world, and this year of
experiencing learning, serving all over the world, is over. My emotions continued to go in many different
directions with being thankful and glad to be back in the US and loving this
country to being sad for all those I had met who had so little; to be sad that
I wouldn’t see a lot of those people again; to being sad I wouldn’t be living
with my awesome squad anymore.
God has shifted my thinking
and shown me different things in the US as well. He reminded me of something He taught me back
in Thailand,
our first country of The World Race. He
had told me, “Kari, the same needs you
see here and will see all over the world, are right back in the United States
as well.” Some of them may look a
little different, but they are the same.
Everyone in the world needs to know God’s love and who He really
is. There are people in the States who
are just as poor and homeless. There are
those who are rich in material possessions but poor in spirit and empty in need
of a Savior. And there are those who
have nothing from a worldly perspective but are so rich in spirit, knowing who
Christ is and His love, that joy fills their lives and their homes. As God took me back to that first month and
His words being spoken to me, I now understood the full ramifications and why I
needed to hear that even back then; it would affect me now and God knew it!
This week didn’t go quite as
originally planned, but it went the way God had in mind. God did exactly what He wanted to do,
surrounded me with the amazing people, wonderful encouragement and discussions,
and deeper friendships. I had the
opportunity to be with my friend Leslie all week and to meet her house-mates
Jenni and Cassie. I enjoyed my time
there so much and they shared some of their thoughts and knowledge from
experience of re-entry. We talked about
so many things and both got to share what God has been doing in our lives, in
our church, in everything this past year.
And I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. I got to lay by the pool for a little while
two days and just relax and think. I
wouldn’t have changed this week one bit.
While I was there, Leslie and I had the chance to meet up with our
friends Dan, Diedra, and their little girl Miranda for an afternoon as well and
catch up. God truly blessed me this week
in the most perfect way.
On my flight from Dallas to Chicago,
I met a pastor and his wife who ended up sitting right next to me. They were
the nicest people and we ended up talking most of the time. I was able to share some of the things I
experienced this year and they were an encouragement to me. That is one reason I love to fly, God always
brings someone to me whom He wants me to talk to. After arriving in Chi-town and being greeted
with my sister running toward me with a huge hug and my parents there with
beautiful flowers and a ‘Welcome Home’ balloon, I was able to meet up with
Colleen and Christie (on my squad) at Giordano’s for Chicago-style pizza. It was neat to be able to relate with the
things we are feeling and things that are happening as we transition back and
so good to just see them – I was already missing them! Then I got to come home and see my brother, Jonathan, for the first time all year and get a huge hug that from him (that doesn’t happen often!). And afterward, I was able to see my grandparents and share a little with them. What a good day!
It is still a transition and
still a learning process coming back, but God is showing me more and more each
day. And each day there is someone right
around me that God wants me to reach out to and also someone to encourage me. I’ve been writing that in my blogs and
reminding people back home that no matter where you’re at God has something for
you. And now it’s my turn. God has me right here right now and has
placed certain people around me, has given me a love for them, and a desire to
reach out to those in my own country now.
The Lord has not stopped speaking to me and He won’t ever; I just need
to keep my ears wide open for His voice.
I’ve served and loved people all over the world this year. Sometimes I worked with pastors, churches,
and those who already knew the Lord, but needed encouragement. And others I got to tell about God’s love
that had never heard before. And now I
feel God wants me to come back and serve my family (Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles,
cousins, parents, brother, sister etc…) to meet some of the needs they, the
same way I served all over the world.
I love how God just gives us
the next step. Sometimes all He shows us
is what He wants us to do that day, and that’s all we need. Obedience is the key. Whether God calls us to ministry overseas in
a different country, rich or poor, we go, or if He calls us to minister to
people here in the US,
we do it. It’s all out of obedience and
love for Christ. I love that God has a plan for each day of my life-one day at a time and He doesn’t just care about the big things, the huge decisions in life, He cares about the little things too. God has pretty awesome plans He has promised for my life and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for me next!
