To & From America ~ Processing

Before I even begin, a special shout out to my sister and to Justin Janes who seriously made a HUGE impact in me being able to process when I was in America and afterwards as well. God is doing awesome things through both of you. Thank you, I am so grateful!

Adjusting between one culture and another is something that is hard to explain unless you yourself have done it. After living in a developing country for a week, you find yourself changed (I definitely did after serving in Haiti last October). Returning after six months, you question who you are…  I constantly found myself wondering if the changes were a temporary thing that were a part of readjusting to my environment, and how much of me had been changed forever.

Being in America in July and August (sorry, I know that was a while ago now), was definitely a vacation to be remembered. Two weddings in different cities, (a bridesmaid both times), and a family reunion at the coast all tightly scheduled into a few weeks. Not to mention trying to see all my friends, have time for church presentations, and eating as much Chipotle as possible in 30 days. J The day I landed in America I had a hair appointment and a dress fitting to prepare for the wedding I would be in three days later (thankfully this one was in Portland).  Everything worked out so well though, and ran smoothly. It was great though to see so many people though at one event!

The next wedding, a week later in Seattle – everything seemed to be going wrong. The dresses and tuxes came in hours before the ceremony in the wrong color, the hotel lost reservation information, and people got parking tickets for having their ticket stub on the wrong window… And all this for a couple that had been engaged forever and a bride who is CrAzY organized (love her to death)! In the end everything worked out, the night was beautiful, and it forced me to sink-or-swim being put back into situations where multi-tasking is a way of life.

When I finally got to the week of our family reunion, I was ready to just CHILL. The first 48 hours at our family’s beach house I did not even go down to the beach! I was reveling in the fact that I did not have anything to do but sleep and read and eat – oh the blessedness of vaca J.

When all was said and done, at the end of my 30 days home, I felt refreshed, re-energized, encouraged, and ready to pour out to the children and staff here in Asia. Thank God for summer froyo nights and such an unbelievable group of people I have in my life!!! My friends, family, and church community had brought me back to the place where I was excited to be a part of the ministry working over here. 

And then I came back... My first few weeks were processing and re-adjusting all over again! This time alone though which made it harder. I thought that after being here for six months, I would just be able to jump back in. How ignorant! Not sure what made me think that, since it was not that way in America, where I had lived basically my whole life…  I had sped back up to an American pace, and had adjusted to spending every waking moment with my friends and family. There are definitely days when I wish I could combine the best of both worlds…

It wasn’t long though before I was able to step back into old routines, to let the joy of rambunctious children supercede the rest of my day, and delight myself in the purpose of this cause. I am being taught so much in such a short amount of time, and regardless of what comes next, I am excited to see where He is leading!

Hoping, filled with joy, and loving the adventure… <3