home

it’s been a few days of adjusting up to this point…

i got home on tuesday night and its now friday morning, so i apologize for keeping everyone in suspense. i hit the ground in the u.s. running, so i haven’t had much of a chance to make another post to let everyone know i arrived home safely.

i had a wonderful homecoming, with my wife and kids welcoming me home. my two older kids latched onto my legs and hung there for a bit. what a joy. my youngest just sat in the stroller and smiled with a big cheeky smile. she’s only 8 months, so i wasn’t expecting much from her. it’s amazing how quickly kids grow. i was gone two weeks, and all my kids grew considerably while i was gone.

so there has been some adjustments to being back in the states as well. the first thing i saw as my plane was getting ready to touch down in redmond was a crew cab diesel truck. haven’t seen a full-sized truck in a while. wednesday morning when i got dressed i put on jeans and tennis shoes. haven’t worn clothes like this in a while. first night home the temperature was down in the teens. haven’t felt cold like that in a while. first meal i had when i got back was a salad with chicken on it. haven’t been able to enjoy a good salad in a while. but these are all things that don’t matter much. i think the greater adjustment has been remembering my friends in africa and how little they have, then looking around here and seeing how much i have.

in america i think we all know deep down that “stuff” doesn’t make us happy, but we sure give it a fair try, don’t we? cars, houses, recreational toys, clothes, food. we have so much. yet the majority of the people i see here in the states aren’t nearly as happy as those i met in africa.

well, i guess that’s all for this post. short and sweet. just wanted to let everyone know that i’m back and i’m getting back into the swing of things, though i think i’m swinging a little differently now. keep checking back because i plan on uploading some more pictures and also some video clips i shot while over there. hopefully they’ll be up early next week.

Wend na songe – God bless you.

final day

tonight we depart for home…

well, i figured it was time to post once again. this will be my last post from burkina faso. we depart tonight around 11 pm. so i write this post joyfully, yet a little sad. i’m joyful because i know i’ll soon be back with my wife and kids whom i miss dearly, but i’m a little sad because i’ve enjoyed my time over here so much and met some great new friends. i’ve also had many great experiences. i can’t even hope to summarize them all on this blog.

i know when i get home i will be asked by many people about the trip and how it has affected me. “how much time do you have to listen” will have to be my response. in fact, i don’t think i can even put into words everything that i have experienced and that has affected me. instead, i think a lot of the lessons learned and situations experienced will have to be observed by others in my life. i do believe this trip has changed me in some ways, but not all the ways i expected.