Bags packed, seats taken, take off, and final landing. My heart beat fast and my body push through to get the first glimpse of my beautiful family. When I saw the smile of my mother I couldn't help but run into her arms and sense the presence of tears four months awaiting. The embrace of my parents was the one thing I needed to feel in order to believe I was right where I was supposed to be. Four months ago I took a chance on an adventure that would change my perspective on everything I once believed to be normal. As I walked into my home and climbed the first flight of stairs it hit me. This beautiful home smelled the same, things were in the same place I left them, the sound of quiet was even the same, but the way I felt about all of it had changed. I stood in the foyer wondering what the next season of my life could possibly look like. My normal once was filled hot showers, clean sheets, faucet water, fresh ground coffee. My normal the past four months has been cold showers, dusty tile floors, bunk beds, a plastic kitchen table and chairs, instant coffee, bats at 3 am, spiders, bare feet, 9 girls sharing one bathroom, and waking up to my teammate Calah every morning. As of yesterday I am not required to wear shower shoes in my shower, I can flush my toilet paper, bugs no longer crawl over me, I can sit on a couch, and I have my own bed. Each blessing I have received through coming home cannot overshadow the memories of waking up to obnoxious birds, new bug bites each day, laughing and screaming with my 8 other teammates as mice scurried up and down our beds, gayo pinto for every meal, and fingernails daily packed with dirt. You may say I will realize how blessed I was before going to a third world country, but I truly believe I have been blessed to experience both. I want both of the worlds I have lived in to become a part of a new normal. I feel so lucky to have what I have, to have experienced what I have, and to live knowing that no matter where I am, what I am doing, who I am with, I am loved by an incredibly gracious and loving God. He is my normal, my everyday, my everything, and because of that I am blessed.
