- Surprising my poor sister: Christina thought I was coming home on Feb. 24th, so I hid behind a tree and threw a snowball at her on the campus of ENC. She was really happy to see me, which was just what I needed after a 24 hour journey from Kenya.
- Swing dancing with my Allison: We found a public dance with a great band in Boston - it was great getting back into the "swing" of things with Allie. Also, taking her out for a nice dinner in her home town was wonderful as well.
- Walking through Narnia with my Mom: we had so much snow in our back yard, we arrived from the back and Mom was convinced it was not in fact our yard...she was wrong but I don't blame her things looked so different it was surreal.
- Eating my Dad's food: mushroom chicken marsala with special Emeril seasoning was crazy good, and even Cambell's tomato soup was especially good. Funny, eh?
- Watching my niece play with my djembe...great enough to warrant a picture, in my humble opinion :-D
Well, the biggest news since we've come back has been the incredible snow storm that hit Fishkill this last week. On Saturday we had 30 inches in our yard. Thursday I spent the day shoveling 2 inches of snow off the driveway every hour, but a huge amount of snow hit us in the evening, so on Friday my mother and I spent the whole day shoveling. It was hard, back breaking work - it really made me miss the tropical climate of Kenya, for sure. Our yard looks like a hurricane went through, trees are just decimated, in particular our poor magnolia tree out front. My Mom is really sad about that, but it's nature! Brutal, hardened New England nature, but nature none-the-less.
Now, I'm looking for work. I'm hoping to get a job in New York so I can get involved with my home church again, hangout with my parents and some old friends who I haven't had any real contact with for a few years. A lot happens in a few years, so I really can't wait to reconnect with all my friends. I'm working on putting together a presentation so that I can spread the story of many of the inspiration folks I've met in Kenya. Also, I want to write up a story for the online missions magazine Engage, (I haven't forgot about that, Amy :) ) but I am still struggling as to what, or how, to write about my time in Kenya.
I miss friends and neighbors at ANU quite so much, I think of them often. It is very strange, it's almost like there is another world in Kenya that is still going on, but without me. It really makes me think about our world...so many people doing good things, bad things, just doing life all over the world. I wish I could go and connect with people in every continent and country. It was so humbling and valuable to be a part of the life of the people in Kenya. Now there is not only another world in Africa, but it has become a part of my world. I'm grateful to have my world broadened, and even more thankful to have a chance to spread God's love around the communities I was involved with. Of course, when you spread love around it only leaves you with more people to miss, but it's worth it, it is definitely worth it.
