Homeward Bound

Oh my oh my oh my oh my!

I feel a little dramatic tonight. 6:45 am and I'm off the ground and headed for home. Never did I imagine Shreveport airport would be such an inviting place. Of course, it's not exactly the cypress trees that hold the appeal, but several certain people I'll be seeing there...

I'm so overcome with how God has blessed me. Never do I feel a deeper longing for heaven than when I realize how much I love people on totally opposite sides of the planet who can never possibly all be in the same place at the same time. It's gonna be an awesome party someday, guys! I prayed for friendships before I came, and God has given them to me. And now I get to go home to visit the ones I love, and then come back again...

Wow wow wow. It's cold out now...but I suppose the weather is no longer new news. It's going to be cold here for a while, so I should stop writing about it. But really, it's cold. Not miserably or impossibly or even severely cold, just colder than what I've experienced for long periods of time before. It's been in the 20's F. Don't laugh at me. I'm actually finding it quite fine. My long johns are becoming a second skin of sorts and I hope I will at some point have motivation to take them off and wash them (just kidding...sort of...)

Of Friday I went to youth group even though once again I was thinking "Why am I here...it's bedtime." It starts at 8:30, which is very trying to me. I don't actually go to bed then, but it's just not a good time for crowds. But then we started playing Dutch blitz, and they were practicing guitar in the background, and I was reminded how extraordinarily FUN that game is. I got paid back for all the years my family has forced poor unsuspecting guests to play by the rules I made up for the game since we didn't own the actual cards and I taught my family the wrong way to play...so we've always played with our own set of rules, the "Walters" rules, oh excuse me, the M. Walters rules...so that no blame gets laid on the K. Walters, who I believe, play correctly...hows that for a run on?

Yes. Well. I had to play by the real rules and it was really crippling. But still fun. It messed with my head the way reading the Russian alphabet does. It seems that I'm always at a disadvantage here. But I guess that's what happens when you leave home and land yourself in the unfamiliar. I was bound to look dumb, and I guess I sort of am...in a good way :) Yes, I'm blabbering.

So, we left after midnight and I was so sleepy that I was getting irritable and trying not to show it...so when six of us girls started down the hill, the Ukrainian girls were doing the penguin waddle thing and having fun sliding around, and I was...well, once again at a disatvantage, being soft, green, and totally uncoordinated. I went smack on the ice twice, jumped up both times and kept waddling like a disconcerted barnyard fowl, and eventually was able to join in the laughter. I'm learning from friends here that things don't have to be that bad...it's often just the attitude you have. Which can be changed.

On Saturday I think I broke a record of some kind and slept in till 10:15, which made me very happy. I didn't have to go anywhere. I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling for a long time, thinking about the amazing ways God has blessed me. I started to cry out of sheer gratitude. And I thought of David's words in Chron. 17, "Oh Lord, who am I, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?" I want so much to glorify Him and live passionately with Him.

So spent the day laying there recovering from the week and then got up and did some organizing/packing. It was totally quiet in the house besides the Urkainian worship music I put on, and getting stuff in order was so thereputic. A spot of order in the chaos. Ahh.

Then I got a text message from Cheryl asking if I wanted to come to supper. And I did! By then a brisk walk was welcome, so I left everything in a state of beautifully-laid-out-and-half-packedness and went. Cheryl had decorated the house for Christmas and made a roast and standard accessories, (corn, carrots, potatoes...) and Jono was there too, so we ate and talked and talked and ate...it was like a quiet Christmas celebration of sorts. Ahh.

So last night by the time I got home and packed up at Masha's enough to find my bed again :) it was past midnight. I woke up at 4:30 with too many thoughts going around in my head to allow anything but a restless doze. I didn't stay in that doze for long, either, possibly due to the nearly Pharoahesque dream I had in which I watched cows being moved from one side of the Dneiper river to the other with a crane. Does this mean something? One of them slid down the bank and its udder fell off. Please let me know if you have any interpretations :) Does Deb need to stop buying fresh milk on this side of the river???

And here is tonight, and I'm blogging away when I should be finishing up packing and catching some winks. I'll be home soon! Bye.