One Week Home.

I'm back from the Orient! Been back a week actually, and a crazy week it has been. I was not expecting major jet lag or any sort of culture shock. But there have been quite a few surprising things to experience this week.

Today I was greeted at my church with a very warm welcome. It was so good to be back at New City and the authentic and caring community present there. We didn't even get through verse 1 of the first song and I teared up, overwhelmed at the ease with which we were able to sing whatever we wanted, as loud as we wanted. Not so in East Asia.

Throughout the service, I felt small moments of anxiety, which I quickly realized was due to the atmosphere. I was sitting in a room with 20 other white people who were not speaking in proper code. I pulled out my Bible - which was not covered. I actually caught myself looking around a couple times to see if people were watching us! And all of this occurred at our small church plant - I can't imagine being back at a huge "cool building" (I mean, "Christian church").

I remember moving to Minneapolis two years ago and being so overwhelmed; like it or not, this bustling, confusing, sometimes dirty city was now my home.

Since being home, I catch myself day dreaming when I'm driving and biking and walking: I know that I don't have to watch out for a large van barreling driving down the sidewalk straight for me. Sirens and airplanes and car horns that once bothered me throughout the day are not even noticed anymore.

The sun is blinding. (On a good day in East Asia, you could look directly at the sun, which was only the size of a quarter due to the thick layer of pollution constantly present in the atmosphere). I had a love/hate relationship with the smog. It made the sky as full gray as a winter day - but it kept the temperature a little cooler. When you're walking several miles a day with a heavy backpack in 95+ degree weather, the smog isn't so bad.

I can't wait to go home to the farm in a few weeks to take in the rolling hills and peaceful surroundings!