Home Sweet Home.

Our hearts, our summer, and the space we find ourselves in now.

We’re back! And aside from the aches and pains of reentry after 6 months overseas, we are just so very glad to be home.

Today, I briefly attempt to bring you in to our debriefed thoughts, bring you up to speed on what our summer was like, and let you in on the space in which we find ourselves in now.

Debrief

We notice and acknowledge how our adventure changed us. Here are some ways we see how our hearts are different.

…We find ourselves LOOKING for the nations.

We miss our friends from all over the world and just how wonderful it was to love and be loved by them and to learn about their countries. Our eyes now search for the foreigners around us. We notice the foreign exchange student from Italy and try to position ourselves to talk to her. We reach out to the classmate not speaking our language and tell her we relate to the experience of living in a foreign place. We have an awareness of the ESL classrooms at our schools.

…We feel a stronger family bond.

Being away from the usual routine and community, spending so much time together, and experiencing this adventure together, we notice that we migrate toward one another and linger a little longer when we are together. New schedules have us SAVORING the few hours we get with each other every day.

… We have a deeper appreciation for Sabbath and rhythms of rest.

We celebrate and delight in the day even more than before we left. And we have appreciated the given opportunities to speak about it.

Our Summer

For the first two weeks upon our return, we reconnected with friends and family, settled back into our home, and reacclimatized ourselves to Missouri humidity!

The next two weeks were a grace in the gift of rest. We came home from Israel exhausted and after letting down realized just how hard and intense those six months were. The Lord was faithful to meet us where we were and give us rest.

The last two weeks of summer were also spent with family and busy with preparations to get all five kiddos ready for public school and the Professor ready for his 10th year at Ozark.

Our summer was exactly what it needed to be and we are now fully launched into the fall semester!

The space we are in now.

… Putting down roots.

We missed our community. But have many sweet opportunities to put down roots again here.

We’ve had a fresh start, it feels, to take the good and beautiful from our season in Israel, experience some growing pains as we hold those new values and put down roots again, and continue to see the abundance of God in his faithful hand that guides us through this process.

… A mother’s sabbatical.

Is that even possible?…yes! With coming back in a state of burnout, there was an invitation of my own for Sabbatical. There is so much more I could say about how the Lord led me to that decision, but I will only say this- His invitations are ALWAYS good and kind and this one unfolds before me without my doing a thing. The only thing asked of me is to listen to his voice and each day brings me further back into myself, restoring what was deeply worn out in me.

The needs for this time are to focus on my health, take time to play, and come to the Lord for healing and mental restoration. It probably goes without saying that this Sabbatical also means not blogging for a bit, but I am including prayerful considerations for what is next for this space and look forward to sharing that with you when the time is right.

Thank you all for meeting me here and for reading my crafted words. I enjoy this creative outlet very much and am expectant about what is to come. I hope you’ll also come along for whatever is next for The Rich, Full Life post-Sabbatical!