Its a different view that I see as I sit at my laptop here at home. Instead of palm trees, banana trees, sunshine, greengrass and flowers I see leftover snow, grey skies and snow coming down.
Our departure from Santo Domingo was hard....tears and hurting hearts were abundant as we had to leave a country that became home and people we had become attached to. Our flights went very well, although Atlanta is crazy at the best of times. We had two hours but over an hour was spent being processed through US Customs....then pick up our luggage, recheck, go through security, go down to the subway to another terminal and then find our gate....we are gratefull that once we were processed the rest went quite quickly. We had about 15 minutes to grab some dinner and then board for the trip to Buffalo.
While on our way to Buffalo we were told there were strong winds so to be prepared for some rocking on the way down. I think the pilot was being a little underexpressive in his description of the winds....gales were more like it. It was quite the experience fighting those strong winds and we are thankful for the skills of the pilot and co-pilot for bringing us safely to the ground.
We are home....and its good to be here. Brian Doerkson playing in the background reminds me that life consists of many crossroads. We stand at the crossroads recognizing that life is change - "Here we stand, at a crossroads again. Like you said, in time the seasons change. We look back and recall the blessings and the pain, but now we turn our hearts toward what is still to come, we want to dream again. Lead us Lord, into a life of fruitfullness, prepare our hearts to risk again. As we trust, taking simple steps of obedience, we know, you will lead us Lord." These words express how many of us are feeling. Trust of God in each and every moment was a developing theme during our days in the DR.
Over the next few days we will be reflecting and processing what we experienced during our time in the DR. Our bodies and senses were bombarded with sights, sounds, smells, and touches of life in the DR. We all of pictures that have captured moments but they will not do justice to what we have learned and been taught. I hope to add a few more thoughts and pictures next week and then will conclude this blog with some overall reflections.
We are thankful that God has seen fit to bless us with his grace, mercy, beauty and safety over the past two weeks. We have felt his presence in so many ways: we received the gifts of his peace, comfort and health, we were blessed with His wisdom, love, gentleness and humbleness, and we saw with our own eyes how His sacrifice on the cross for the sin of the world can transform lives in very tangible ways - the people we were privileged to meet and be in relationship with were Christ to us - each day, in every moment. We will be forever thankful to God for this time.
Blessings on the weekend..... "How great is our God....sing with me how great is our God....and all will see how great is our God!!"
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