It is weird being back in the US!!! Weird in so many awesome ways and weird in a bunch of not so good ways also. I feel like I am already super busy and it is just the first week of classes. What happened to things slowing down a little now that I am not teaching full-time and going to school full-time? That was one of the many things I thoroughly enjoyed about Nicaragua...time! We share the same 24 hours in a day but it seemed to me that life was slower, in a good way. People would come over unannounced "ahhh the horror".... YEP, unannounced!!
In fact it was expected that people would come over and just do "life" with you. There were no specific preparations or plans. People would just work together, sit together, eat together, go get water together....whatever happened to be going on you were made a part of. In the evenings people sat and talked or read aloud to one another. LOVED IT!
Then again, I am very thankful to be back and have HOT showers...he he! I think that is the wonderful thing about traveling internationally, you have the opportunity to live life in a different way. Maybe better, maybe worse, maybe just different. Such a neat thing to do.
I am making a video from my time in Nicaragua. Nothing fancy but I should post it on here and facebook soon. I have had so many people interested to see and hear about the trip....so Cool! God did some amazing things in me, through me, and all around me! To Him be the glory!
In some ways it is hard being back because I find myself getting used to the comforts of the US once again. When I first got back into town I was incredibly embarrassed by the amount of clothing that I had in my closet.
NO way I could wear it all IN SIX MONTHS..YEP...embarassed!!!
The other day I found myself at Target and I almost bought a shirt that I thought was cute. WHAT????
I don't need a shirt. I have a bazillion shirts. Not that it is bad to buy a shirt...I am sure I will buy a new shirt one of these days....probably one day soon. It is simply the principle. I can give away alot and still have more than I need. Why have I not given some of this stuff away?????? I need to do that AND continue to do it when I have more than I can use!!!
Then, there is this small nagging of a feeling that in some way I am still gone. Not sure if that makes sense but even with my family and friends I feel like for some reason I have not yet had enough time with them. I still feel distant. I feel like I need weeks of time to just hang out with them uniterrupted and catch up. I know that catching up will happen slowly...I was gone for 8 months and I can never fully catch up from 8 months...it is just an interesting dynamic. I have urges to stand up and give them all a really long bear hug. I missed them!
On another note, it is so AMAZING to be back at my home church. I missed the body so greatly. These people encourage me, love on me, and hold me accountable. I have missed singing praise to God with them, missed praying with them, missed going through the good and the bad with them. I praise God for Living Hope and the sister Churches of New Life and Living Hope Bryan. If you are not involved in a local church body...JOIN ONE! God desires for us to have this type of community...so awesome! I blessed to get to live with a group of ladies that go to one of these churches and it is so nice to know that they are praying for me and I for them.
Okay, enough for now.
Off to do other things...like grade papers....yuck!
In fact it was expected that people would come over and just do "life" with you. There were no specific preparations or plans. People would just work together, sit together, eat together, go get water together....whatever happened to be going on you were made a part of. In the evenings people sat and talked or read aloud to one another. LOVED IT!
Then again, I am very thankful to be back and have HOT showers...he he! I think that is the wonderful thing about traveling internationally, you have the opportunity to live life in a different way. Maybe better, maybe worse, maybe just different. Such a neat thing to do.
I am making a video from my time in Nicaragua. Nothing fancy but I should post it on here and facebook soon. I have had so many people interested to see and hear about the trip....so Cool! God did some amazing things in me, through me, and all around me! To Him be the glory!
In some ways it is hard being back because I find myself getting used to the comforts of the US once again. When I first got back into town I was incredibly embarrassed by the amount of clothing that I had in my closet.
NO way I could wear it all IN SIX MONTHS..YEP...embarassed!!!
The other day I found myself at Target and I almost bought a shirt that I thought was cute. WHAT????
I don't need a shirt. I have a bazillion shirts. Not that it is bad to buy a shirt...I am sure I will buy a new shirt one of these days....probably one day soon. It is simply the principle. I can give away alot and still have more than I need. Why have I not given some of this stuff away?????? I need to do that AND continue to do it when I have more than I can use!!!
Then, there is this small nagging of a feeling that in some way I am still gone. Not sure if that makes sense but even with my family and friends I feel like for some reason I have not yet had enough time with them. I still feel distant. I feel like I need weeks of time to just hang out with them uniterrupted and catch up. I know that catching up will happen slowly...I was gone for 8 months and I can never fully catch up from 8 months...it is just an interesting dynamic. I have urges to stand up and give them all a really long bear hug. I missed them!
On another note, it is so AMAZING to be back at my home church. I missed the body so greatly. These people encourage me, love on me, and hold me accountable. I have missed singing praise to God with them, missed praying with them, missed going through the good and the bad with them. I praise God for Living Hope and the sister Churches of New Life and Living Hope Bryan. If you are not involved in a local church body...JOIN ONE! God desires for us to have this type of community...so awesome! I blessed to get to live with a group of ladies that go to one of these churches and it is so nice to know that they are praying for me and I for them.
Okay, enough for now.
Off to do other things...like grade papers....yuck!
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