The smells of America...

Well after about 6 weeks, three road trips, four speaking engagements, two AMAZING holidays spent with family and a lot of shopping and eating in between I feel it is definitely time to sit down and write a little about it. Actually, what I specifically want to write about was my walk today. We are in Charleston, SC right  now and the weather is pretty amazing...not your typical winter weather at all (which I sometimes miss) but beautiful nonetheless. Yesterday it was 78 degrees and crystal clear skies and today was a bit cooler (probably in the 60's) and overcast. Ryan was out with his dad and I decided it would be great to be able to get out and take a walk with the babies. We only walked for about 30 minutes because it began to sprinkle but what an awesome 30 minutes it was. The smells and sights I saw on my walk were incredible. 

After three years of living in Nepal, taking a 30 minute walk around a beautiful American neighborhood takes on a whole new meaning and is so special and so simple. As I walked pushing Gracie and Keane in the stroller I smelled the smell of rain, the smell of the clean, great outdoors, the smell of grass and trees and clean air...what does clean air smell like you ask??? It smells fresh and good and makes you want to breath it all in!! As I walked past house after house I could smell fresh laundry from the dryer and wonderful smells of all kinds of after holiday food cooking. I saw beautiful homes decorated just so for Christmas with lights and snowmen and wreaths. I saw kids on break from school riding their new scooters and bikes they got for Christmas down the street and I saw people of all different ages and stages in life spending time in their yards and with their families each of whom waved at me and said a friendly hello as I passed. I saw a family feeding geese in their backyard and a man working on his car. I saw all kinds of different trees and birds and cars (some I had never seen before). I saw moms with car loads of kids on their way somewhere who just smiled and waved as I passed. If it sounds like a peaceful, serene, relaxing walk...it was!!! There is so much I take for granted each and everyday of my life and so much that so easily becomes "normal". I pray that simple smells and sights and sweet time strolling around with my two babies will never become so "normal" that I will not take time to appreciate it all and soak it all in. If today's walk would have just been "normal" there would have been so much that I would have missed and so much joy that I would not have experienced.  

I realize that many of you are not in a "peaceful" or "serene" place at all right now. In fact, many of you live in very busy cities full of people who don't speak your language or even notice that you are there (or who notice you too much) and certainly where the smells around you are not "amazing" or "wonderful" but I pray that today, you will notice things in your life that are special and I pray that the "normal" things in life would jump out at you and that you would be able to experience a little bit of what I did today wherever you are.   

Overwhelmed, Happy, Tired...

Well, we have been in America for almost three weeks now. I am sorry I have been so bad about blogging. We truly haven't stopped since we arrived. We flew into North Carolina where our home church has provided us with a wonderful apartment. Ryan's parents met us at the airport and it was truly a sweet reunion. The next day, Ryan's brother flew in to be with us for a few days and then they all left on Sunday evening and on Monday morning we left for our 12 hour drive to Connecticut to be with my family. We stayed there for two weeks and just arrived back in North Carolina the day before yesterday. Yesterday we had two speaking engagements that were wonderful and today we have a relaxing morning with a meeting later this afternoon. We have had a wonderful time with family and friends and are just overwhelmed at all of the ways that we have been blessed. We love being in America and had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family. Being here is so refreshing and so overwhelming at the same time. I have not really had much time to sit and process all that we are experiencing, where we have come from and all that we have done. I plan on trying to get some of my thoughts out in a few blog posts when I get more time. For now, I wanted to let you know that I am still here and really want to blog but just haven't found the time yet. But I have posted a few pictures for you to see.