The Home Blur

Wow, has it really been 12 days since my last post???? I think that is the longest stretch when I have not blogged in 3 years!!! The last two weeks have been a blur of activity and catching up. We have hugged many friends and family, shared a lot of smiles and shed a few tears. We already had one big good-bye that we had to do yesterday as our neighbors have accepted a call to a church in Kansas and will be leaving in the next week or two. We will miss them a lot as our neighbors, but like I said to them, we can not really be upset with them as we started it by moving to Africa!
We have spent a week with 2 of my nieces, visited college friends, church friends, seen fireworks, been to a pool party, surprised a few friends with random visits and my kids were able to see our house yesterday and attend a VBS for one day. We are staying in Walhalla which is about a 2 hour drive from everyone except Bryan's parents, so our kids are already complaining about the drive, but it is much better than a 20 hour flight!!
The big question that we are asked at each get together is always, "How are you guys?" It is hard to sum up all our thoughts and emotions into a brief enough answer as not to overwhelm people, so we just say that we are fine. For the most part that is true. We miss our friends and the staff and children from Beautiful Gate, but it is so good to be home. I missed being with our loved ones more than I can even begin to express so it is just wonderful to get caught up again with everyone. Seeing my kids jump right in and just play and talk with their old friends just brings a joy so complete and fulfilling to me. They have missed their friends and missed just being carefree kids with no worries. Elijah has had many times where he has been stressed at Beautiful Gate, and Faith also has been so worried many times about children dying so seeing them just be kids is indescribable.
We know our time here is temporary so we are trying to enjoy each moment. There are things that are different and can make us feel overwhelmed, but we are trying to be patient and remind ourselves that many people just will not be able to understand what we have seen, felt and experienced over the last few years. People do not mean to do or say things that hurt us, it is just that our new "normal" is very different than what used to be our normal and for those who not seen or experienced it, it is very difficult to imagine. I thank God for many friends and family who are very loving and who are embracing us with open arms even if we are a bit changed. To summarize, there is a lot going on in my mind that I just cannot express, but it is good to be home.