Home (at an undisclosed location)

Thanks for the many prayers for my safe travel. I arrived back in Houston safely, on time, and with all bags, on Wednesday night. A far cry from my harrowing trip to Mongolia last May. My first inhalation of humid air was truly sweet! I'm starting to adjust, unpack and settle in.

I'm enjoying some quality time with my parents, and looking forward to going to church on Sunday. In the meantime, I've got a jillion things to do, including hosting 4 Mongolians next week who are coming to Texas for a 2-week trip. Right now I'm without a cell phone (which is kind of liberating), but all things in due time.

See you soon!

Going home

It's 10pm on my last night in Mongolia. My bags are packed and I'm ready to leave at 7am tomorrow morning. I said all my goodbyes today, to our staff and our kids. I'm familiar with the mixed emotion of bittersweet - I hate saying farewell to the kids, but I'm really excited about going home. I spent a little time reflecting tonight, and I scanned through my old blog posts. I'm amazed at how rich my experience has been.

Last April, I kicked off my blog with some expectations on my perspective changing. And although it's absolutely true that living in another country does change your perspective, I've recently been agonizing over whether I will succeed in making changes in my life back home. What purpose would this whole experience serve if I merely returned to the exact same way of life I had before? I know what things I want to change, and now I'm praying I will have the faith and determination to truly change them.

This past year has been a gift from God, and I'm happy to say that I feel like I accomplished my primary goals. I've seen spiritual growth in the women I've discipled, and I've spent lots of quality time with our kids. My first blog post last year included a group photo of our kids. It seems appropriate to end with another - and this time, I got to be the photographer. Thank you for taking this journey with me!