400 Pounds

We just got home from home. We had a great time at home but it is good to be home. It was great to sleep in our own bed but our bed here may be the best bed we have ever had. This could go on and on. We are blessed to have a home in Michigan where we are loved so deeply. It is rewarding to have a home in Africa where we serve and are being used in many ways. Our term starts up today and we are here to go to work but as our good friend Craig always said before each school year, "I need one more day!".

On Monday we woke up way too early for how late we got home from the airport and looked around the apartment at the nearly 400 pounds of treasures we had brought back for us, for friends, for our dorm girls, and we started to unpack. We were not prepatred for how emotional this was going to be. We started pulling out things that reminded us of someone in the States and we were saddened by the nine time zones that separated us and the planned seven months before we would see them again. At different times, both of us were tearing up at missng family and friends.

As the items we brought were categorized, organized and delivered, it pounded in our chest how empty these things were compared to people. We know that intense discomfort with separation from people means there is an equally strong connection and love that draws you together. That, however, does not make it easier. Here, at RVA, with the families of the boarding students and the families that serve here, we see first hand, on a daily basis, the separation caused by this chosen life and realize everyone here is living with a hole in their heart. It also dawned on us that all our loved ones around the world have the same conditon.

The good news? Generations of faithful followers of Christ have felt this same feeling and have shown it to be a good thing. We believe in Jesus and his saving power. We have been called to spread the gospel to every tribe and nation. We are here because that call outweighs the desires of the heart. In some moments it doesn't and you cry when the plane touches down in Nairobi or when you see leftovers in the freezer carefully placed there by your daughters when they came to visit.

This blog, while we share it, is for us to chronicle our emotions as we work in Kenya. Today's emotions are much better than Monday's when they were pretty raw. We are excited as we prepare for the next term. We are looking forward to the girls coming back and connecting again. But it would be nice to have one more day.