So. I am back in Pennsylvania, in the good old U. S. of A. I made it- I traversed skies, continents, and oceans, all alone, on crutches, and I made it safe and sound back to my family and my community (which are one in the same, in many ways!). I've been on EST for just over 2 weeks and am FINALLY getting settled in a regulated sleeping pattern.
The question that should be posed: have I retained the growth that I experienced whilst being overseas, or have I slipped back into ordinary, bland, lukewarm lifestyles?
The answer: I don't think it's for me to say. It's not for me to tell everyone how much I've changed. Of course, for my part, I can identify a stark difference in my own life; the enthusiasm and endurance that I now follow Christ with is a sharp contrast to the circumstantial, moody love I had for Him and His plans only a couple of years ago. In Matthew 7:16 it says that we will know trees by their fruit, and so, if you truly desire to know what I am like these days, let me know! We'll get together!
If you're wondering at all what it's like for me to be back, I will be honest: it's not always easy. I am used to working and learning all day every day, with some of my closest friends only a few doors away, being able to go out into the Australian sun and sing praises to the Lord for all He's done for His children. Granted, I can still do that last part here- but suddenly, I'm not working, I've left several people on the other side of the world who I miss very dearly, I have physical therapy several times a week, and I am preparing to attend Wheaton College this Autumn. I am where the Lord has called me to be. I know this to be true. However, I'm starting to wonder if the "comfortable call" isn't harder for me than the "uncomfortable call." When I was wheeling around, in pain, working 8-5 in Australia, I was going through so much inwardly and outwardly that I had absolutely no doubt (or time to doubt!) that I was being refined at a gloriously rapid pace. Now that I am back, I feel the Lord may be stalling me a bit, calling me to be patient in a life where not much is happening to me. I am still growing ever closer to Him, if only through daily life, but I cannot feel the refining being done anymore. Ah, well. I suppose this is just a new angle with which to look upon my life, ultimately resulting in, as always, the need to depend on Christ.
Well, friends, I'm glad to be back amongst you. The Lord has been so good to me over the past 6 months and continues to be good as I readjust to my life back here in America. Thank you deeply for your prayers. Many of you- MANY- have come up to me and told me that you have been praying for me, even if I didn't know you before I left. That encourages me more than my words can express. Your prayers had a mammoth impact, let me just tell you. Thank you again, and God bless!
Random Fact of the Post:
I think that I will keep this blog up and running. I feel that, especially as I begin college (and whatever else my life entails in the next season), the Lord will continue to have me live a life that defies the norm of even what I expected for myself, and through that, bless me with interestingly unusual experiences that make His love for us evident and undeniable. I would love to continue to have a medium to share those happenings with you all! I also plan to live a life full of travel, so perhaps it would be beneficial to have a blog where I can track both my journeys- my journey across the face of the earth, and my journey from this world into the house and arms of my Father.
Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.
Anna
"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep." -Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.
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