America-- original I know

Well now that it's been a good 3 months since I've even looked at this thing I figured it was time to get everyone updated. After writing this blog I plan to send one final Newsletter. I have by no means arrived home and been able to process everything in the last 3 months. I would say this is more like the beginning of the process, this blog may be my first real step to start embracing and understanding what has transpired in the last 2 years and how to move forward with what happened and changed in my life.

I guess I should go ahead and mention that when I arrived in the U.S. I freaked out in every possible way. Those of us who have lived in foreign countries for long know that American food can be pretty constant on our homesick minds. However, when you arrive in the U.S. you hit this sensory overload especially in the area of food. Just the idea that you could go to Arby's, Chic-fil-a, Quiznos, Atlanta Bread, Starbucks, and Wendy's makes your stomach and head swim... and that's before you ever leave your terminal much less the airport! There is a whole world of food out there, and if you are in my situation (where your stomach is a mess) you want to eat it all and are afraid to take a single bite. So, needless to say I dealt with that insanity for at least 2 weeks. Meanwhile, I was trying to get into the Doctor's office, get out of my mother's house, and find a job so that I could afford the outrageous gas that has gone up at least 80 cents from my arrival until today.

My first Sunday home just happened to be Easter Sunday. Great I think... the best Sunday of the entire year. I'm not only going to see every person that does and doesn't go to church I'm also going to get some good ole "Special Music" in the mix. Again, sensory overload. Before church was over I looked at my mother and asked her to drive me home. I pray the Lord has forgiven me for walking out on such a special Sunday.

I'm not one to sit still for long, so my mother's permission (more like longing) for me to stay in her back room until the day I die was a bit overwhelming. Needless to say I only stayed there for a grand total of 3 weeks. By week 2 I had completely exhausted every semi-exciting thing you can do in Brookhaven, MS. Going from 8 million neighbors to neighbors who consisted of my extended family was a bit claustrophobic.

I moved into an apartment in Jackson with no source of income by April 5th (I think--it's all a little fuzzy). The Lord blessed me with a job on my birthday (April 28th) so that I could pay my bills and keep my sanity. This job is a true blessing. The people I work with are wonderful and the pay is great for Mississippi. (Especially when people tended to continue asking me "and what kind of job experience do you have?"-- oh I don't know how about living as a single girl in a foreign country and culture doing everything that YOU do on a daily basis only IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE!-- excuse me, that was a tangent).

So, by May I had settled into this job and lifestyle and have been really enjoying myself for the most part. I attend church on Sundays at a Mississippi sized Mega-Church. Again, quite overwhelming, but now 3 months in I'm almost to the point of being able to concentrate without staring at the sheer number of people and size of the auditorium. I'm a work in progress for sure.

Lastly, but possibly most importantly, I was able to see Chris this past week. He just arrived back in the U.S. on May 31st. After a 10 day camping trip with his best friends he arrived in VA as did I for our debriefing conference. It was so great to see him and finally be in America face-to-face. I enjoyed my time at the conference and you can say that this blog entry is a result of me seeing my need to process what I've been through these past 2 years.

Chris and I in Wal-Mart (his first time there since arriving to the U.S)

The good memories are starting to come back and the stomach aches aren't at the foreground any more. I'm remembering why I left to live among the "nations" in the first place and how ready I am to go back. I do believe that I would eat only bread for the rest of my life if that was the only way for me to live overseas....then again, I've been labeled as dramatic! However, I do know that I am willing to go to great lengths to be on the field and I do pray that God gives me another chance in any country... just so long as He's doing the leading.

I guess I should also mention here that my stomach is returning to normal (whatever that is). After seeing a GI specialist and having a colonoscopy and endoscopy all the tests came back "normal". Once again I have been given the diagnosis of IBS--- meaning my stomach hurts when I eat. Thankfully I have found a couple really good books on the subject and I'm learning to control the pain with diet. I do not like how boring the new diet is (it pretty much takes away every Southern dish I've ever enjoyed), but I've learned to like it simply because I no longer have stomach pain.

Now, I will not apologize for the length of this entry because it's more for me than all of you anyways. But if you are still reading at this point I hope you enjoyed walking through the first months in America with me.

Thank you to every one of you who has read and prayed along with me over the past 2 years. It is possible that I will continue to write on here again in the future-- possibly just changing the blog title..... however, it's just hard to imagine that filling up my F150 at $4.00 a gallon can be as exciting as flying over the Amazon in a Cessna, hiking in the Andes to reach a some no-name village, or doing disaster relief in the Desert. The truth is though, the Lord has me here for now and I pray that I am just as willing and obedient to share His truth in my office as I am to hike through mud and muck to share that same truth.

Thanks again for your prayers. Leave some comments... if you like!

I love ya'll!!!!!!!!!