Safely Home

We arrived home on Tuesday, July 17 in the afternoon, after several long hours of sitting on airplanes and running through airports with all our bags and trying not to lose any of our children. For those of you who were wondering, NO, we didn't bring any extras home...just the same 4 we went to Ethiopia with. Leaving Mekelle was bittersweet. Of course we were looking forward to seeing friends and family. Our kids (unfortunately) already had a list of the foods they wanted to eat when they got home. But saying goodbye to our dear blind students as they reached out for us and hugged us and spoke blessings on us was really gut-wrenching. Saying goodbye to our houseworkers, knowing that there were no good job alternatives in sight and they really needed the salaries we'd been paying, was tough. And saying goodbye at the airport to our NGO partner's director, Getatchew, our dear friend Laura, an HIV outreach worker, and Steve's dean and boss, Dr. Gebrehiwot, were all really tearful. We were all undone, and it wasn't the same sadness as when we left America. When we left America, we knew that we would all be back (Lord Willing) and we knew that everyone would be okay while we were gone. They would eat, they would be healthy or at least have access to medical care, most of them would keep their jobs and their world was relatively stable. When we left Mekelle, we knew to what we were leaving them. Our wonderful, warm, slow-paced Mekelle was a great place to have spent a year. But for many of those we left behind, they were facing poverty, joblessness, sickness with no access to medical care, spiritual poverty for some (great richness for others!), and other hardships for which we had left no answers. Tough stuff.

Being home now for two weeks has been good and also tough. Today, for example, we are greatly missing the Mekelle weather...80 and no humidity, about 50 at night. The muggy summer days of Kansas are quite an adjustment. We have been blessed to see family and friends and be back at our home church, and that has been a treat. Still....I sometimes feel like a deer in the headlights when I'm in those crowds and having to talk to lots of folks. IT's overwhelming, and frankly, I don't always know what to say when asked about our year. "Amazing" is my best answer so far...and I just leave it at that. We struggle with not being judgemental or viewing everything around us as shallow and superficial. It isn't...but after some of the stuff we've seen this past year, life here seems so easy at first glance. We have friends here with REAL problems and hard situations, so we know that pain and suffering is not limited to only the less developed parts fo the world. Right now we are still trying to sort through the lessons that God really wants us take with us from our last year. It may take awhile.

One friend asked, "Top 3 things that are hard about being back in America...what do you see?" I said, The Pace (everyone is in a hurry, all the time, and doesnt want to slow down or doesnt know how); The Weather (I already mentioned this contrast); and Too Many Choices (too many options, at the grocery store, in deciding what to do with your time, etc). One great quote that has stuck with me as I tried to keep up with the Pace of US life was a week ago when we were heading to our neighbor's pool to swim with friends. When they got here, sodas in hand indicating they had picked up fast food, I realized, "oh yeah...I have to feed my kids...I have to feed them NOW...it is 1pm and we are going swimming!" (still getting used to not having our houseworker around to have lunch on the table at 1:00 every day, hot and ready!) I started through the kitchen in a flurry of activity, making sandwiches, barking out orders, yelling for what folks wanted on their sandwiches, etc. I announced to Curtis, age 10, "well Curtis...looks like we're back to life in the U.S., huh?" He said, "Yep...Welcome to the U.S.A....where you prepare for nothing, but DO EVERYTHING!" I was shocked, asked him where he heard it and he said he had just thought of it. Brilliant.

Another priceless moment was when we ventured to SuperWalmart Center for the first time on Friday. I was really afraid, knowing the level of stimulation in that store and fearing the effect it would have on us. But we needed a booster seat (new law went into effect) and other things and this was our best one-stop-shop. We walked in and all of our mouths fell open. I announced for everyone to look straight ahead, don't turn to the right or the left, and head for the car seat baby section. On the way, we were of course overcome by the large selection of movie candy in boxes for 88cents (who can resist that?), popsicles in superhero shapes, and then finally, we reached the booster seats. We bought the most basic one we could find, then on the way back, we had to walk by the toy section. Precious Curtis (maybe he really did learn something this last year?) said, "okay guys...I think maybe we better just come back here when we're a little bit more American....because don't you think mom, that we're still pretty Ethiopian and this is just WAY too much stuff to look at?" I agreed and we all headed for the checkout. It was a great moment, and another reminder that despite all of our wanderings over the past 13 months and our wonderings of where we belong....there is really only ONE HOME to which we should cling. Praying your clinging tightly that the right one, as we're seeking to do ourselves. More later.

Pam