Saturday, May 14, 2011

Back to Normal?


I just want to write cause I am sitting in Roger’s parents’ apartment and everyone else is on a computer so…what do I like to do on the computer?  Write of course…
We arrived home about 8 PM Friday and were welcomed by the Dorko family.  They have been living in our home while we have been traveling and they have bought a home and are hoping to close in the next week or so.  We are used to having people in our home so it is not really a big deal to us. 
What has been a big deal is the adjustment to the reverse culture shock and adjusting to our new schedule and being apart and doing different things during the day.  I knew it would be different but didn’t realize how weird it would be and how unnatural it would feel to run errands on my own and to go the most part of a day without talking to Roger.  Saturday and Sunday were not to bad.  Saturday we went over to Ben and Sarah’s and enjoyed catching up with them and celebrated mom’s day early.  Ben gave me a beautiful painting of a photo we had taken of the church on a hill in Italy…one of my favorites and a nice bunch of sunflowers.  The best part was hugs all around…. I knew I missed them but did not realize how much till I was with them.  When we got home that evening there was some flowers from Lucas and Jamie too…what a surprise!  And then Sunday morning we got to Skype with Eileen…one happy mom right here. :)  I am so amazingly blessed !!
Sunday it was so great to be back in our church with friends and just say hi to everyone and then went to lunch with our dear friends the Denny’s at McAllister’s Deli… just a good thing to know that there are no lines there whatsoever on mothers day… which is weird because the food is good and its quite kid friendly.  The rest of the day we hung out at home.  Monday I was on the go all day doing errands and some appointments and hardly saw Roger all day.  He had quite a bit of real work to do... the kind that pays the bills so it was good but I truly missed being with him.
Soooo… Tuesday we left in the morning to drive to Florida and after about an hour in the car I thought to myself… this is the most normal I have felt in several days.  Traveling with Roger… that is what I have been doing the last 6 months and it felt so good to have him to myself and just be together going somewhere.  It has been an adjustment …. feeling as tho I am caught between two worlds…misplaced….a bit foggy headed and lost…typical symptoms of culture shock…I know it will pass and life will feel normal soon…so in the meantime I am enjoying hanging out with family and being with my best friend still…and wondering what life will look like a few weeks from now…guess for now I need to take things a day at a time…embrace the moment…sounds a bit familiar doesn’t it?

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Home, Home, Home


Leaving Maui
We are now within driving distance of home and will head that way Friday.  It is hard to believe that over the last 24 weeks we have slept in 26 different beds, flown over 49,500 miles, been in 27 different airports ... entered airports 43 times, sometimes the same airports ... on 19 different airlines for a total time of 126 and 88 hours on airlines and in airports respectively.  This does not count the 20 and 12 plus hours on trains and long distance taxis in Siberia not to mention the many short rides in taxis and buses as we traveled around the different cities and towns.  One sad note was our suitcases were covered with all the baggage handling bar codes indicating how much we travelled but some time between Hawaii and Chattanooga, someone decided to take them all off.  The evidence is no longer on our suitcases.  You can see some of them in the picture.  Now that I have totally over whelmed you with the data, it is a good time for  Jan to share something on a more personal basis.


...and I thot the blog was coming to an end :)  And the most amazing statistic is that we were never delayed on any flights ... or lost our luggage ... more on the side of miraculous I would say!
Tomorrow we head home and I am excited at last.  The family that has lived in our house while we were gone will still be there another week or two and since we have been staying with people the last six months I think it will make our transition even smoother.  It will be fun to have a houseful of activity rather than an empty house to wander thru and wonder what to do with myself.  We have been planning to visit Roger's parents in Florida shortly after coming home so we will be heading down there next Tues so won't really be home long.
View of Joe and Marsha's farm
We have had a great time here with Roger's sister Marsha and family.  The surrounding hills are so pretty and the smells and sounds of a farm are so fun and somehow very relaxing  We have enjoyed walks down the lane to the barn, and walk to the swimming pond, petting the horses, listening to the parrot (somewhat annoying at times) make all sorts of sounds as he imitate every noise he hears from people snorting to the dryer buzzer to the squeaky door.  I can't explain it... but I love coming here.
As we leave our travels behind i thought I would share a couple of the many stories that we weren't able to share before...
We heard a story about a church in one country where it is illegal to share the gospel or hand out Bibles that is trying to be creative in spreading the word.  They decided to leave the building windows ajar and leave bibles sitting on the window sills... as if they had forgot them.  They (100 Bibles) were all gone in no time at all .... so they thot bigger and over time over 1000 bibles were taken.  They are praying that they are going to the hands of those that the Lord has led there.  We pray the same.


Another interesting story that made me realize how big and awesome our Lord is...and how we tend to focus on the here and now when He has such a bigger thing in mind...  If you remember back when the movie The Passion of the Christ came out there was alot of different publicity the movie here in the states.  One of those being that it was very anti-Semitic ... people were upset about that ... Jews and Christians alike.  Well guess what the Arab world thot about that?  Anti-Semitic ... let's show it in our theaters here ... for a whole month ... several times a day!  Many lives were touched and some people told us how they would wait outside the theater waiting for the movie to be done and then offer to take people out for coffee to discuss it.  Can you imagine the opportunities to share the truth?.  People were coming out of the theatre in tears.  They were shocked that a great prophet like Jesus would allow himself to be killed in such a manner ... so while we were on the other side of the world with our narrow views and listening to so much talk about that movie ... our God who is so amazingly creative and huge was using it for His glory in a country that is blind to the Truth!


Liberty (standing) and Cassie
I could go on and on with stories that reminded me of what a Huge God our Lord is and i hope to share little by little more of what we saw and heard...
I guess that means i will keep talking on this blog :)  I enjoy writing and so I will keep writing I guess till I run out of things to say...
We can't forget to say that we are picking up our one baby in Tennessee ... Liberty our dog.  She has been enjoying herself here with her cousins and romping around the farm.  She was glad to see us but we are sure she is going to miss her cousins and the big outdoors here at the farm.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Homeward Bound - May 2

At the "Blow Hole"
Sunday…last day in Maui ... Wow…where did the week go? We have been debriefing but we have also have had some fun and enjoying this beautiful place.  We were able to snorkel some and one day saw a Monk Seal resting on the beach.  We were told the Monk Seal just come up on the beach occasionally and rest every now and then for a couple days.  
Blow Hole
One afternoon we walked to a place where there is a “blow hole”.  A large hole in the rocks where the water from the ocean sprays up some 40-50 ft and then lets loose a ton of water.  It was a hard walk over rocky terrain but gorgeous and so worth it.  One day we drove to the other side of the island… just explored the area…. stopping at craft fairs, checking out shops and ate good fish for lunch.  We have eaten about half our meals other than breakfast… all in the apartment…  so the other places we ate had been fun seafood with ocean and sunset views… amazing!  One thing about Maui that we have not liked is the prices of food and things in general.  Its kind of shocking after being overseas where fresh food is cheap and you can bargain for things in the market…. talk about sticker shock!  Our favorite things have been the weather… the view off our patio… and listening to the waves.
Rock (lava) Formation on way to Blow Hole
 It has been such a great time for us as we processed the last 5 and half months.  It was so great to visit friends in 9 different countries... it was amazing to see how God is at work in these places… to hear story after story of how He brought people to Himself…to be reminded of what a creative God He is.  I am cautioned to not allow myself to try to squish Him into a box again as I have done over and over again…challenged to live my life being more purposeful in each day… refreshed in my relationship with Roger as it went to a deeper level as we shared so many experiences together and learned so much more (yes even after 33 yrs together) about each other.
Some of the people we had the privilege to be with.
Overall, there are many people we came in contact with and they impacted our lives greatly.  We also pray that we impacted these people for the kingdom and that their relationship with Christ will be established or enhanced.  We met most all these people shown in the pictures in these collages.  These people and many like them need to have a relationship with Him and we hope you will also remember these people as they search for the truth.
Some additional people we had the privilege to be with.

Monk Seal resting on the beach
Tomorrow we fly to Chattanooga to spend a few days visiting family… pick up our cars … and Liberty our dog and then head home.   I have to admit I am saddened at the thought of not traveling… I am also ready to go home and see what life holds for us now.  It will be different in that Roger will be working on starting his own business while still doing consulting for the company he has been working for… and will be working out of the house…. but life will be each day… looking for what God wants… living with purpose to bring glory to Him in all I do… that will be my focus….


So yes… I am ready to go home… we have been listing things we are looking forward to and there are many things… also listing things that we have had to change our thinking of like…
  • What is the exchange rate?
  • Wonder if it’s squatty potty … with tp or no tp… wonder if it’s a pay toilet?
  • How do you say hello ... thank you?
  • Why are there so many people speaking English?
  • Can we can drink the water?
  • Is that kilometers or miles?  Fahrenheit or Celsius?  You get the idea… :)
Some of the things we are looking forward to?
Sunset in Maui
  • Seeing Ben and Sarah
  • A new pair of glasses (mine broke and have been repaired with super glue numerous times)
  • Sandhills Community Church
  • Our bed … even though those provided were great
  • Some different clothes
  • Trying the new recipes I have accumulated
  • Reconnecting with friends back home
  • Seeing family again (and the dog, Liberty)
  • Putting the suitcases away!!
  • Exercise routine again!
  • Being able to buy product brands I am familiar with (as opposed to the description in foreign language…like shampoo, toothpaste, lotion etc)
  • Getting a haircut
I guess that gives you an idea of what we have been thinking of…
We are thankful for those who came on this journey with us via this blog…. time will tell whether I keep on blogging… guess if I do I will have to change the name of it... :) Something exciting like…”and life goes on with Roger and Jan”  Whatever is ahead… I am sure it will be interesting and never a dull moment!