Happy New Year 2014

So it's been a while since I posted last, and there are lots of excuses, and maybe some valid reasons. But so much has happened in the 6 months since my last post. I made a heart-wrenching move back to the US, worked another summer of Csehy, got a new job at my old school, started transitioning back to life with my family, had German 'Danke's' caught in my throat every time I was at a cash register, got grafted back into the loving community of my church, and tried to maintain some degree of 'normal' without really knowing what that meant. All the while, I was dearly missing the people, places, smells, sounds, and emotions that composed BFA in Germany. Tears and waves of emotion stronger than I'd experienced in my short life were my constant companions. And still are sometimes. The reason is simple: I have loved hard, long, and at great cost. This left me feeling much like a worn out piece of elastic, with about as much energy. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Because when God calls us to love others, He doesn't only ask for half of our hearts. It's His greatest commandment. 

This year God has allowed me to keep on loving in an opportunity I didn't expect (more on that later), but the call is the same. There was need, there was me; God said go and I went. Every day I ask God for strength to serve, and every day He is faithful. 

As the new year begins, and the smell of snow is in the air, I have hope. 

And this is why: "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6), "The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever." (Psalm 138:8) 

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him." (Lamentations 3:21-24)