I'm home

I've actually been home for two weeks now. Due to several flight complications, my arrival home was delayed 12 hours. But I made it...into the arms of my fiancee, who is now "officially" my fiancee as the ring has been given. It's been a full, busy two weeks, with friends and family to see, a wedding to plan, and a bride-to-be to spend time with. And it's all been so rich and so good.

I intend to resume blogging in a few weeks, once Joann and I enter this new season of our life in Olympia, where I will be co-pastoring a church plant, primarily giving direction to the service/mission/outreach component of our church. There's some real excitement brewing and momentum building among many regarding this church. Exciting times!

Just came in from watching the sunset at my Grandma's farmhouse in Woodland, WA, thinking about how much is happening right now and how challenging it is to stay on top of it all...so many things I want to do, reflect upon, experience, remember, prepare for.

And when I stop for a moment and catch my breath, my thoughts often turn to China, which is increasingly feeling like a strange, alternate reality that never really happened, though I know it did. I just feel more and more removed from it, which I recognize is partially just the reality of how things work, but is also a little painful.

I am challenged at the moment to explore what it means to cherish the different seasons and experiences of my life not only while in them but when removed from them. I want to grow in my ability to remember well, to honor that which is past, but which is also inseperable from the present, as that past is a part of who I am now. Maybe I'll go back out and look at the now dimly-lit sky and chew on that one for a bit...