That's where I'm at! I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while. After Swaziland I spent a few days in France and got home on the 21st. My head is still spinning between jet lag, seeing everyone and having so many more clothes to choose from. Seriously, I walked into my closet and it was like I had been shopping without spending any money- brilliant! So, home. Being home is such a blessing but is hard at the same time. Ya, there's the usual culture shock, the "we spend so much and they have nothing." That's definitely happening. There's the rushed feeling from leaving a culture that doesn't know the concept of time and coming into one that abuses it. There's missing my team and the people I grew to love in Swaziland. All that is present, but don't get me wrong seeing my family and friends is awesome. But God being God, He's challenging me.

     In Swaziland I learned all these beautiful things about the life we are called to and now Gow is asking, "are you going to live them out?" It's so easy to switch back into a mindset of immediate anger and judgement that I used to live in. A mindset that tells me to hold grudges against people that have "wronged" me or be petty and whiney (sp?) about situations that don't please me. He taught me so much about grace and love and now it's time for me to step into it and love people. There have been several situations in the past days where I wanted to judge or be angry and just unhappy. Then the Lord shoves in my face, "Whose attitude are you called to? Who do you want to reflect?" A life of love and devotion to Him was not a 9 month program. Loving little Swazi kids that don't have any food and are so adorable is easy. You just pick them up and they look at you and you melt. It's a different story here, when people tick me off, how do I respond? The Lord is taking me on a new journey of love and grace. And I mean really, compared to the mercy and grace God has given me, why am I even writing about this?

God's also showing me new things about the Body of Christ. He's really been speaking to me about the whole one body, one Spirit, one faith thing in Ephesians 4. One body. He never said one body per country. The church in Swaziland is the same as the church in America. We are called to live as one body of Christ. There is no "American church." One faith, one body, one church. I really don't have much expect that everyday it blows me away that God is the same and in control everywhere. Being in Swaziland I got to see more of the body and I can't wait to see another part of the body in Peru.

God is great, He's challenging me saying that He's not done stretching me. Praise the Lord! Thank you all again, I'm going to post some more pictures very soon. As for the continuation of this blog, it's continuing. I leave for the Peru trip on June 20th. There is a team blog for that trip, I believe for everyone and as soon as I have that link it will be up here.

I want to thank all of you for partnering with me in this. Along with the theme of a body, thank you for living in it and living in the community where called to. I can not express my appreciation in an adequately. I have been so encouraged by you. Thank you! Oh and I would love to see you while I'm home!