I had missed Jimmy John's so much
As well as the beauty of Target
And the wide roads
Where you don't really have to have fear of
Having a head-on collision when you're driving
America, thank you
About two weeks ago,
I had the privilege of being able to
Fly back to the states for 5 days
For my dear friend’s wedding
Amazing to see her again
And to be with her family
During this incredible time in their lives
Then even to see some of you at the wedding as well
Ah, so good to see you all
Thank you for a chance to be there
But I wasn’t prepared for the glimpse of
The culture shock that would happen
When I stepped foot into my home country again
Weird stuff like finding myself looking at Americans in a different way
Noticing the difference in ways of communicating
Not used to the food anymore
This is my home
But seeing how things have changed
And feeling out of place
Only after 8 months?
How?
But now back in Ireland
Then with one month left
But two weeks have come and gone
And now only two weeks left
Before I officially leave this place
Two weeks
How is it that it’s almost over
Soon to be taking a plane back
To the life in North America
Face to face with leaving here
Having to process
Needing to move forward
But in all honesty,
I'm not feeling ready
Not ready to say goodbye
Or to transition
Or to adjust
From a place that has somehow
Become like home
“One of the hardest things about missions is having to say goodbye”
But here we are
Time will continue
So needing to face this reality
That this is the time God has given
And to be thankful for it
So how to finish strong here
And look forward to what’s ahead
And trust God in the transition
But with this time left here
I want to ask for you to be praying
For strength to finish strong
With admin work in the office
With homework that’s due
For opportunities to connect with refugees
And the Irish woman I’ve been talking with
To have conversations that point to Christ
That these people will come to know Him personally
And that my heart would be in the right place
Eyes fixed on Him
As I need to process and transition
To a life back home
And back at college in BC
To be available and open for what God has
In these last two weeks
In the next two months
In the next year at school
A few days back I was talking with my housemate
About how crazy it all feels to be leaving so soon
But then she said something that struck me,
“Look how you’re not wanting to leave a place
that you didn’t want to come to in the first place.”
Taking a moment to let that sink in
I said not really looking for an answer, "How did that happen?”
But she replied, “God answered your prayers.”
Wow.
It’s hard to find words to all that’s happened this year
So I’ll try to find them and share them with you
When I’m writing to you when the internship is over
But for now
I know I can say that
I’m just incredibly thankful
So with that being said
Thank you for everything
Looking forward to seeing you
If you're up for some Jimmy's or a cup of Joe, I'll totally be down :)
All my love,
Ell
⇿⇿⇿
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| Oh hey there America. |
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| Reunited. |
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| Liv, I am so stinkin' happy for you. Thank you for everything. |
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| Back to morning devotions with the team. |
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| 749 years old. |
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| Guess who came to visit? :) |
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| And these lovely gems too! |
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| A dream about to come true. |
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| AND WE SURVIVED. |
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| Well there were supposed to be cliffs. |
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| But when we hiked down... |
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| ...it was still so worth it. |
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| Jaesun's first time in a hammock 🙌 So cool to see how this hammock as become a conversation starter with strangers in town. The other day an older gentleman asked if I could take a picture in the hammock and proceeded to sing a folk song while swinging away. Day made. |
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| It's been record breaking heat these past few days. Apparently Ireland hasn't had 3 hot days in a row in a hundred years. The grass is definitely feeling it. |
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| Irish air-conditioning. |
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| Athlone - it's been a joy. |
"Even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me."
Psalm 139:10
