Home Again

From the front porch of Quincy to the corridor of Coffee Heaven, one of the many coffee shops adorning the malls of Sofia - this blog finds me sipping a cappucino while I am connected to the internet. It boggles my mind to relish the changes that have come to Bulgaria in the 9 years that we have lived here. More on that in another blog.

Six days into it and we are still recovering from jet lag. On the first night back, nobody went to sleep before 3:30 AM and that was after traveling all night on an airplane. Succeeding nights found our body clocks turning back in 1/2 hour increments but it was not enough. Today was the first day of school for the girls and still it was midnight before they had finally fallen off to sleep. Of course, first day of school excitement contributed to the difficulies. It occurred to me last night as I finished the dinner dishes that the girls made two overnight flights in the course of one month - that is quite a lot for their little bodies to endure.

As I reflect upon this furlough, I have to be honest and say that it was the hardest we have had. 'Exhausting' comes to mind. We saw the inside of more hotels than I care to remember. The girls slept 3 to a bed quite often. Somebody slept on the floor many nights. And we spent a summer as a family of 6 together 24 hours a day for weeks on end - together in the van covering miles and then together in one hotel room each evening. That is a lot of family time to be sure. So, furlough was in a word, exhausting. Yet there is a silver lining - there always is. We met so many dear people along the way that blessed us with their friendship, their openness, their generosity, their interest in our lives and ministry. It is an encouragement for lack of a more adequate word. Losing Jay's mom was a tragic end for all of us - the girls have cried many nights for their last grandparent. My mother's heart mourns that they now have no grandma and grandpa. Sadness fills me for Jay as well as he has moved through the grieving process. So many people praying has really been a blessing.

We have been amazed by the number of people reading our blog throughout the summer! You can anticipate one or two more blogs as we talk about our return to Bulgaria as part of the furlough experience. From there we will be transitioning to a blog about family life in missionary ministry.

From the Bulgarian gates of Coffee Heaven - Teanna