Within a couple hours of returning home, there was a Welcome Home party for me. I was SOOO excited to see my friends again! I wasn’t sure who would be coming, but I knew I’d be excited about whoever walked through the door. It had been a long year to be away from good friends, and I’d missed them immensely!
You know, it’s a crazy cool thing to leave one place in tears and mournful hugs, and soon after, to be in another place and be welcomed by tears and joyful hugs. Exactly the same thing that happened when I left Minnesota to go to Cebu. These same people that were welcoming me home here were the people who were saddened by my leaving. And the same children so discouraged by my leaving in Cebu were the children who welcomed me back with shrieks and huge hugs when I returned to visit in the summer of 2011. How to describe all of that fully and the emotions that go along with all of it is very difficult. It’s a very beautiful and very challenging thing, all at the same time. I suppose it’s neat to know there are always people on either side anxiously awaiting your arrival!
THANKS so much to all of you who came to welcome me home!! It was a perfect way to end a loooong flight and tough few days.
(I couldn't figure out which pics to choose, so I just threw most of them on here. Ha!)
The next day was Sunday, and I was determined (despite extreme jet lag) to make it to church so I could see more people I’d been missing so much! It didn’t take long before I was smothered by hugs, and of course the tears came again. More fantastic reunions!
After church, I went home - by driving for the first time in nearly eleven months! I was certainly nervous the first time!!
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