Snow Angel

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Dulce

Dulce - the Spanish word for sweet. And how sweet it is to be home. I flew into Houston on Dec. 5th. I spend a couple of days in Houston seeing friends and taking care of a few odds and ends. I am happy to report that I did not pay for a meal during my entire four days in Houston - my friends - such blessings they are - treated me and made me feel loved and very special. I am blessed to call one of those friends family also - my cousin Kay.

I arrived at my brother's home yesterday. I have the privilege of having a 'sleepover' with my niece - there is nothing like a warm little body stealing the covers to make you feel right at home. She woke up about 6:30 this morning (I was already awake) and told me she had a nightmare. I kissed her head and said a little prayer that Jesus would make the nightmare go away. Ordinary living - and how precious it is.

I am sleeping well - I seem to have adjusted almost without effort to the schedule that I kept in Pakistan - I usually wake a little before 6:00 am each morning - the day starts early for me now. Somehow you get more done that way - not sure why.

Well, I will close - ordinary life calls and I must go get ready for the day. Ducle, Ducle....

Counting

I am on my way home in just a few days. As I reflect on the previous year, all I can think is that my computer is smarter than I am. In the last guesthouse in Islamabad and in the current one, I didn't have to try connect to wireless Internet. My computer 'remembered' and automatically connected. There were both places I had been before - the familiarity is nice, but, gee whiz - you know you have traveled a lot when the Internet connections are there automatically. I was counting the other day and here is my tally of places seen within the last 12 months: Thailand, UAE, Pakistan, Afghanistan, America....I also saw the borders of China and India so I am counting those too. If you count airports, I saw France on the way here. Frankly, I feel like a gypsy, albeit a high-tec one. OK, how many ways have I traveled this year? By bus, by car, by taxi, by airplane, by jeep - no boats or trains that I can remember. My SIM card collection - well, let's just say it's becoming a hobby to collect SIM cards. I have dragged my computer through countless airports. Sometimes I reflect on the fact that even 5 years ago, laptops were commonly bound by endless wireless and had to be plugged into telephone lines. Now they are every day fare - more ordinary than tuna sandwiches. They are the prerogative of twenty somethings and people who live life on the run. Somehow, without meaning to, I have become one of those people.

And now I am headed home - back to America, back to my 'place in the world' - in some ways to measure what I have become in this last year against what I was and where I have come from. Familiar place - yes, but daunting none the less. What will I discover about myself? Will I do odd things without even thinking about them? Will I find the materialism of America gross and unwieldy? Or will I dive right back without a second thought in after so longing for the abundance of American capitalism - ie...Wal-Mart? Will my family see me through new eyes? Will I find my world has stayed the same and I have changed???? In the words of Michael Card, 'Sometimes the questions tell us more than the answers ever could...'