11 months have come and gone and I am officially on my way home. I can’t believe it’s over, but I am so excited to be home. I’m excited for cold weather, to see my family and friends, have a bed, a room to myself, a car, familiar food, a full closet of clothes, good wifi, hot showers and so much more. I am so excited to come home, I’m excited that all the things I have missed during these past 11 months are actually in reach. I’m Alberta bound and I couldn’t be more happy.
Even with all this excitement of coming home and seeing all of you, I still have so many different emotions going through my mind. While I am excited to return home I am also sad. I’m leaving the 50 people who have walked this journey with me. The 50 people who held my hands and cried with me. The people I could turn to for absolutely anything and know that they were supporting me and fighting for me. The only other people in my world that have a true understanding of what this past year held and what it truly means to fight for each other. These past 11 months my heart has grown so big and I have so much love for these people and the Lord has so much in store for us all. From the beginning our squad has had the word BIG given to us, not because of our size, but because we were and are going to accomplish big things and this year has shown that over and over. This next year these people I love, S-squad, will be represented in at least 6 different countries on 3 different continents.
This year it’s changed my perspective. I have learned to live and be around people 24/7. I got to see what a good healthy community looks like. I got to dive head first into different cultures all around the world. I got to hold the hand of a dying man in Cambodia, teach English to students in Thailand, played beach volleyball in Bulgaria and I’ve held sleeping babies in Swaziland. I have seen and done so much and because of that I am not the same person you might be expecting. My perspective has changed. I have experienced things that you may never get to experience and because of that coming home might be hard. I have learned to live the simple life and while I am so excited to come back to living in abundance it seems a little overwhelming.
I’m coming home and I want you all to know I can’t wait to see you, but I may need some grace. I might struggle with people’s views or the way they talk. There might be random times I’ll smile getting reminded of any given story that has happened over this past year. I refer to the past 11 months by country or number rather than by name. I have so many memories in the last year and I want to share them with you, but it is not possible to share my past 11 months in a short amount of time. Please do not ask me how my last year was unless you want me to ask you the same. I might have got to travel this year, but I have missed just as much of your life as you have missed of mine. Although my perspective has changed I am still me, I still like to go for wings and drink ice tea instead of an alcoholic beverage, I still love winter, cuddles and going on adventures. My heart has been around the world and belongs to so many places now. It’s been broken and put back together and for the mean time it is coming back to you!
I can’t wait to hug you all, share with you and be in the same country as you, but my time will be short, 35 days to be exact. While my time will be short I am hoping to connect with you all. Thanks for following along this journey with me, I will see you soon!
This piece of heaven that I’ve found, Rocky Mountains and black fertile ground, Everything I need beneath that big blue sky, Doesn’t matter where I go, This place will always be my home, Yeah I’ve been Alberta Bound for all my life, And I’ll be Alberta Bound until I die!
