Alive.

~ Sitting in the setting sun of Antananarivo, thanking God for all He had done in that country… and all there is yet to do.

~ Crunching through the yellow fallen leaves on a crisp fall day in Pretoria, and remembering how pleasant it is to not be hot and sweaty all the time.

~ The gracious and extremely warm greetings and welcome from the government officials, even going so far as to walk out on to the street to help us find the office.

~ The excitement and passion expressed by the participants as they explained how the training they received on the ship in Pointe Noire has completely changed their practice, has helped countless patients, and has been eagerly adopted by their colleagues.

~ Excited smiles, squeals, kisses, hugs, and laughter as we reconnected with friends who fully expected to never see us again.

~ Story after story of patients’ lives saved and nurses lives transformed thanks to our investments, words, trust, love, and calling.

~ Exploring a new city in beautiful sunshine with a dear friend.

~ The best brownie in the history of the world, warm with vanilla ice cream and an espresso… enjoyed with a favorite friend in a favorite city.

~ An enthusiastic welcome by colleagues, strangers and friends alike.

~ Waking up on a Sunday to green beauty and birdy songs, coffee and puppy cuddles.

How does one summarize the last six weeks? In those moments where I felt the most alive.  It was incredible.  There were plenty of other moments; moments of frustration or disappointment, of anger, of fear, of doubt, of utter exhaustion… but when I look back over the last few weeks I find those moments fading to the background; the ones that remain are the moments of beauty, of redemption, of joy and love and life to the full. 

I’ve made it to Texas; the land of wide open spaces and hamburgers and really fast freeways.  Last night I finally slept through the night so I’m hoping that means I’m officially over jet lag and can return to full functioning; though my current level of sleepiness indicates otherwise.  Somehow the stories of the last few weeks will be organized into words on paper and in pages and on blogs; while I enjoy the little things like grass and whole grain bread and new faces and open spaces and cinnamon rolls. 

It sure is good to be alive. God Bless America.   --k