Exceedingly, Abundantly Grateful...

After seven months of traveling two continents, we are home! It feels, well...weird. I find myself trying to make sense of this. Sometimes I just burst into tears, I still can't put it all into words. Andrew and I talk often about what the last few months means to us. Our children are also adjusting. Last night Jojo was in a tub full of bubbles and he said, 'I so glad to be at Jojo's red house...and love bubbles too, mami'. Javi said, 'Wow our tub is really deep, neat'!

Thanks to faithful friends, family and hard work, we were able to move everything in by Monday afternoon. Slowly we have been organizing and cleaning. It's been a great time to analyze if we really need this or that. Also, I cannot remember ever being so thankful. I am walking around my house thinking...is ALL of this really ours!??!! Thank you, Jesus for warm water to wash dishes, for a washer and dryer, for my pillow...thank you Lord for a big backyard to run in. I am not caught up on if everything matches, as I was before...ugh!

There is a verse in the New Testament that talks about God giving us 'exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ever imagine'...that is EXACTLY how I feel! And the funny thing is, I had it all before. My husband, my children, my health, my extended family, my friends, my house, more kitchen gadgets than I need! You get the point. God wants us to not take it all for granted. Let's stop complaining, we have SO much. We have found that in simplifying, life is more precious than ever. Make time for what really matters. Be thankful for all the stuff you have and use it up or give it away to someone that will. One of my big challenges is to minimize all the stuff in our pantry and just have what we need...and boy is that a challenge!

An Unforgettable Farewell

Sunday, 29th of March, was the last church service we went to in Bogota. After spending six months there, we couldn't believe it was all coming to an end. Andrew and I are still in a bit of shock of how fast time has flied. We feel priviledged to have been given the opportunity as a family to go to another country and encounter so many people we now call friends and so many unforgettable experiences. While we are ready to stop being nomads and return to our own house, we will definitely miss more people and things in Colombia than we ever could of imagined! As we shared with all our new friends...we arrived in Bogota without knowing one person, yet when we left it felt like leaving home all over again.

The last six months definitely has had it's ups and downs, but we are a better family for having gone through it.