Yes, we've been back to the States for 10 weeks and travelled about 6,700 miles! Most of that in a 5 week span. It was a fun time. So wonderful to see everyone! The LORD gave us many blessings ~some physical but many emotional and spiritual
Highlights:
*babysitting Yoselin for whole days and having that sweet granddaughter all to myself. She's adorably precious. Love the hugs she would give without any prompting. What a delight she is!
*camping at Hurricane River with David, Lyndie, Yoselin, Shan, Stephan, Samuel and Shiloh. Ah, the memories! Just seeing all of them together in one setting interacting and enjoying one another was a treat.
*attending the Great Darke County Fair, even if it was only for the first two days. There's nothing that compares to that experience!
*seeing faces from the past and spending time in their homes: Tom & Diane Story, Bill & Cindy Harris, Jeff & Joy Durham and their two sons. For two of those reunions I can thank Facebook!
Discovering that the Storys live a little over an hour from Shan was a nice bonus, too!
*traveling to churches and Christian schools, making presentations. Bob was able to meet with several heads of various ministries while we were in Alabama, also. Great contacts made for future service.
* receiving a msg from Shan at 6:30 on a Thursday night while we are in FL saying she is headed to surgery to have her appendex removed. That was hard not knowing how she was doing, how her recovery was going, etc. Fortunately, she had a good friend who was able to stay with her for the night. Had to place our daughter in the LORD's hands (which is the best place for her after all!)
* being able to go in to a store with a list of items we wanted/needed and actually being able to find them at affordable prices (You have NO idea how nice that was!)
*being able to shop at Goodwill, resale stores, used book stores and flea markets along our travel routes. Some really good deals!
*enjoying 10 glorious days of Fall! The last time we experienced Fall was 2004, so this was a treat indeed. It was so wonderful layering tops for warmth, wearing jeans and not over heating, being able to wear socks, and finally getting to wear a jacket I made from a thick blanket about 8 years ago. Just the colors and smells of Autumn are something to treasure.
*walking to the library with Yosi in her stroller. How wonderful to be out walking, having some place(s) to go, and just enjoying things thru her eyes ~squirrels, leaves, breezes, church bells, store window displays. Then, of course, there were the stops at Broadway Joe's for a cookie with sprinkles for Yosi, a scone and Highlander Grogg for me. We would take them home and then sit together and enjoy them at the dining room table. simple pleasures but oh so beautiful!
*getting to hear Jason preach one Sunday, then the next Sunday to hear Danny teach during Sunday School and Matt during church. WOW! What a blessing, treat, joy...wow! We came away once again encouraged that our church leaders love the Word of God, love the people of the church and have a desire to serve them. (and with the new Grace web page we can now hear the msgs once they are posted!!!! Yes!!!!)
*having a place to call *home* while we were there. Our time with Mike and Linda was restful, relaxing and warm. What a blessing to have one place to stay in while we were in Greenville.
*Christmas with David, Lyndie and Yoselin the Sunday before we left. Yes, it's way early, but it was so much fun!
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And now we're back home in Juan Dolio. We left out Wednesday morning (after a 3:30AM alarm setting!) I started the day with the heater on in the van and layering two tops, long pants, socks and my blanket jacket. When we got to the airport, I left the jacket for Glen to store in a bin at his house. By the time we arrived in Santo Domingo I had switched to a cotton skirt and sleeveless top and was still hot when we walked out of the airport into almost forgotten humidity at 8:30PM!Highlights since our return:
*a very dusty, dirty apartment! How did the dust, and grey dirt accumulate while it was closed up?
*a frig that's on the fritz. We're hoping that by emptying it (thank goodness for coolers and bagged ice!) and leaving it off overnight that it would melt any ice between the walls, then the thermostat will kick back in. Right now it's running and finally getting cold. So, hopefully, the worst is over.
*I had sniffles on Monday & Tuesday and now I have asthmatic bronchitis. My upper chest hurts, have a nasty cough that gets me gagging and have no energy. Fortunately we have meds and I'm off til the clinic opens on Thursday.
*Bob resumed teaching the Saturday morning classes for pastors and church leaders this morning.
*med team arrives tonight for a week of ministry.
So, that should pretty well catch things up. It was wonderful to be back in the States, to be able to rest and to see so many of our friends and family. But it's good to be back home and back in a routine.
love,
~anna~
PS: It's 4;50 Saturday afternoon and it's 86* with 79% humidity and feels like 99* ~Definitely a contrast to Greenville!
Did I mention that we are here for the ministry not for the weather? I love everything about Autumn! Thank you LORD for letting us enjoy it for those 10 days!
