Homecoming

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.  ~G.K. Chesterton

I am home.  Thanks be to God.

This blog is going in a different direction than I anticipated.  I thought that I would come home from Liberia and post starting from Day One.  But, God continues to surprise, and I find the need to process this trip backwards and simply surrender to the process.

So, here I am, a Westerner from a developed country returning from a Third World African country.  There is much to sort through and much reflection necessary to fully realize the impact this experience has had on me.  I am unprepared to consider that just now.  What overwhelms me and seeks articulation is a profound sense of gratitude.

I am grateful.

For my husband, for his friendship, love, support, and fidelity.

For God, who meets us where we are, be it on geographic, emotional, spiritual, or physical terms.

For the Body of Christ.

For the Episcopal Church.

For liturgy.

For thuribles.

For friendship.

For joy.

For hot water.

For electricity.

For sanitation.

For safety.

For smooth roads that rise up to meet me. 

For those who will speak the truth in love.

For passionate educators on all continents.

For struggle and conflict.

For harmony and love.

For hospitality.

For peace.

For education.

For those who inspire us to reach for the stars.

For those who reach for the stars.

For grace amazing.

For lessons learned.

For a perspective adjusted.

For priests.

For rest and comfort.

For deprivation and distress.

For refreshment.

For the grace of our God who will not leave us or forsake us, ever.

For the grace of our God who transforms us again and again.

For the places where I belong.

For the places where I am a stranger.

For the places where I am loved.

For the places where I am not.

For the journeys.

For the homecomings.

For it all.

Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.

Not thankful when it pleaseth me,

As if thy blessings had spare days;

But such a heart, whose pulse may be thy praise.

                         --George Herbert