Home Sweet Home

I have been home now for a little over 2 months and life has been far from easy. I anticipated culture shock coming back, I mean I was told that walking into WalMart or the grocery store would be too overwhelming and I would have to leave, but to my surprise it was quite the opposite experience for me. I walked in and found myself enamored with all of the choices and options and things a place so large could offer. And I cannot even express how happy I was to drive a car again, and yet how desperately I missed (and still do) my moto. Did I mention when I came back it was like 20 degrees? Well it was, and it snowed, almost immediately...There were days I questioned why I lived in such a cold state or country for that matter and why I ever left Burkina, despite the sweltering heat.

Christmas break was such a blessing, I so dearly missed my family and friends and it was so nice to have everyone back together in one place. It was a release to be able to speak English everywhere once again, though I often found myself still thinking and responding in French. And it was nice to have a time where nothing else mattered but being with those that are closest to you. As amazing as break was it was also a huge reality check, seeing as how I was only home for a month before life had to start again and during that month I can't remember a single day that passed by where someone didn't ask "How was Africa?" This simple question drove me to insanity. I came home realizing I needed to process everything I had experienced and yet with an unwillingness to do so. I was so use to coming home from short term trips on a spiritual 'high' and expected the same after coming home from my internship, only to find myself in a deep and dark 'low.' It was a scary place of growth to be in, on the one hand I knew I had to allow myself to process and on the other I wanted very little to do with God because I knew that once I began communing with Him again I would have to process everything and face the reality that it was over. So for about 2 or 3 weeks I put my entire trip on the back burner of my mind, finding myself so angry and bitter at things I should have done and didn't do or things going on here in America, one of my dear friends even asked me after a long conversation about my time; "Did you hate everything and everyone?" WAKE UP CALL! I had been talking negatively about things because I was so lost as to what my life was about anymore, I felt like the climax was over and God had to do some huge work on my heart to get me back to the place where I could deal with the trials I faced and cherish the moments of triumph. All of this to say often I find myself wondering if the transition back was one of the harder parts about going...It has been nothing but adventure and discovery trying to figure out what is next for me. As of right now I am back a school, more sure than ever that I need adequate training before I go back over. What does the next year look like for me? Well I am hoping to start and finish Dental Hygiene school very soon, and then there is potential that a year from this summer I will be going back to Burkina to do a 2 year Health related Internship. (Something I would definitely appreciate prayer on).

Looking back I can't believe it's already done, something I spent 2 years dreaming up and making a reality passed in the blink of an eye, and yet though there is a sense of accomplishment I also know there is yet so much to do. So many more adventures lie ahead, this is only the beginning.