New Life Begins

^{6 "}Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.  ⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸ Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining."  1 John 2:6-8

     Two weeks ago today, I was flying home.  I was overwhelmed with so many emotions.  I was happy to see my loved ones again, my friends, my dogs, my church.  I was excited about entering another summer for the year and being surrounded my green.  On the other hand, my heart was breaking.  I miss my friends, church, and people in Bolivia.  I will miss the dry air and how the altitude affected everything.  

     Everyone talks about how cross-culture shock is so much worse than culture shock.  When I came home in January, for three weeks, for my Grandfather's funeral I only had moments.  I remember the feeling of tidal wave after tidal wave that lasted about a month when I arrived in Bolivia.  I was worried that my feelings would be the same coming home.  

     I have had moments again of cross-culture shock, but only moments.  I miss the solace that I had in the mornings of living alone.  I felt overwhelmed when I entered Atlanta traffic, driving for the first time in two years.  I almost cried my first Sunday because I missed my Spanish music so much, but I wanted to be with everyone here too.  Words don't do justice, but in in the over all I am doing very well.  I have a great support system here that took me too long to build in Bolivia.

    Today, I also got a job.  This has been my biggest anxiety.  I have been dreading going back to work in a high paced, bottom line work environment after all my work being relational for so long.  Right now, it seems good.  Around July 10, I will start working at Barnsley Gardens Resort.  Royalty owned it and established it, so now it is a historical location 20 minutes from where I live that serve high-end clients.  My job will be making sure the guest are happy with the cottages and the hotel aspect of things.  It will be admin with hospitality.  I think it will be a great fit.  At least for now.

  Again, God is showing that He has things in control and that I made the right decision to return home when I did.  Change is hard.  I didn't think it would be so difficult since my life has been up in the air for four years.  I finally feel like I have a little stability and I am finding comfort in that.