Two.
Two is the number of people that make a set of twins…it’s how many scoops i prefer on my ice cream come…That is also the number of days left until X Squad graces the U.S. with their wonderful presence. Tomorrow, we will hop onto an airplane, and cross borders together one last time.
I’ve sat and tried to write this eloquent blog about reentry or summing up my whole Race and to be quite honest, I can’t. I can’t write a blog telling you “Do’s and Don’ts” for when I come home because I won’t know how I will adjust until I’m there. I can’t tell you about my whole Race in one blog–heck, it’d take a novel (or maybe just a 3 hour tea date)! I can’t tell you my favorite country, food, memory, or ministry because asking me to choose a favorite out of those is like asking a mother to choose her favorite child…and as my mom says “I love each of my children equally but differently”. What I can tell you, though, is that I’m entering a life that the old me thrived in and one in which the newer me isn’t accustomed to any longer. I am coming out of one season and entering into another where I am walking blindly holding my Daddy’s hand.
I can tell you that I walk in confidence of not only who I am and who God made me to be but also in my relationship with Him.
Be gentle with me, but please, don’t walk on egg shells. I’m not a glass case of emotions that needs to be wrapped in bubble wrap. I’m still Marybeth–maybe a bit different but I’m not that much different.
I still just want to cuddle with my cat in my chair or sit on the front porch with a steaming cup of tea, journal and Bible spending time with the lover of my soul. I still don’t like coffee no matter how many times I’ve tried these past 11 months. I still have an unhealthy love for Bojangles and chai lattes from Starbucks. Sunflowers are still the most appealing to my eye and the mountains of NC will always make my heart sing.
The only difference is in my heart and my soul. I know my Father at a deeper, more intimate level and instead of one flower that has bloomed, I have somehow been turned into a whole field of flowers that overflows.
“And the day came when to remain tight in a bud was more painful than risk it took to blossom.”
