Home!

This is a bit belated at this point, but I'm happy to announced that I'm HOME! My last weeks in Kyrgyzstan were great, we had a fabulous volunteer going-away party, I had a blast in Ireland with Ben and Jolynn, and I arrived back in Fresno last Saturday, November 10. It's great to be back. So far, I've been eating, using wireless internet, shopping, eating, catching up with friends and family, and eating.

By way of closure, I thought I'd end this blog with some reflections on the last 2 years. Big themes, things I learned, ways I changed, etc. I'm still only at the beginning of synthesizing everything, so these thoughts are a big scattered, but it's a beginning:

THEME OF MY PEACE CORPS EXPERIENCE: Learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable!

• Learning to be vulnerable and honest about my struggles and things that make me uncomfortable; laying down the need to appear to have it all together and the great freedom that came as a result
• Learning to be willing to make mistakes; learning to let go of the idea of perfection (everything being good at the same time) and just enjoy life in all circumstances
  
• Learning that God's grace is sufficient for every difficulty I encounter, that I will make it through, that God is more than enough for me; learning to trust Him through difficulties and to face challenges and walk through them, rather than run away and hide. Just learning to deal no matter the circumstances
• Being challenged to reexamine choices and lines I'd drawn for myself; being constantly stretched to go outside my comfort zone. And in the process, discovering that I like to dance and I enjoy Gin & Tonic! :-) I'm so grateful for the opportunity to live and work with the amazing Talas volunteers who challenged me, respected me, accepted me, and made me a different person. Thanks guys--I thought I was supposed to be a door for God in your lives, but you were a door for God in mine.
  
• Growing in compassion for the outsider/foreigner, "the least of these"
  
• I love Jesus more than I did 2 years ago! I believe Him more, I trust Him more, I like Him more :-)
  
• God's glory is His goodness, and I have seen it!
  

PEACE CORPS THEME VERSES: Psalm 126:
When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter
And our tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us;
We are glad.

Restore our captivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the South,
Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.
He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Yes! God brought a harvest from all the tears and weeping of Year #1! He is FAITHFUL. And He has done GOOD things for me. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else but Kyrgyzstan the last 2 years, despite all the difficulties. MY GIRLS ARE MORE THAN WORTH IT! :-) They are my shout of joy!

• Psalm 18:16: He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. YES! He did!
• Psalm 121: I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.
• 2 Corinthians 4:7-9: But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
• Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust God from the bottom of your heart, don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track.
• Psalm 40:1-3: I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm; He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Looking back, I see that God really did give me a new song about Him, one that flows more authentically from my heart and my experience of Him.
• 2 Corinthians 3:18: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory...
• Isaiah 40:3-5: A voice is calling, 'Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together...' I thought God would use me to make a way for Him in Kyrgyzstan, but God really used Kyrgyzstan to make a way for Him in me.

Things I'm SO Thankful For:

• Machalla
• Chris & Malinda
• Gulmira
  
• My Girls
• My Boys (aka, Will and Jon :-))
• Jess, Joe, Nate, Tacie, Carli--I love you, too!
• Duncan & Helen, Colin & Maureen
  

It's hard to summarize all that my Peace Corps Kyrgyzstan experience has meant to me and done in me, but I think that will do for now, scattered as it may be. I would be happy to sit down and talk with anyone who wants to know more, or just hang out! You can help me by contacting ME, instead of waiting for me to contact you. I want to see you, I promise! It's just a bit overwhelming to think about calling everyone myself :-).

And with that, I think I will say farewell to this blog. It's been a great tool for the last 3 years, but it's time to bring it to a close. Thank you to all of you who have kept up on my life, read with interest, and supported me through it all. You can still keep up with what's going on with me on Facebook! I'll be posting pictures there of my last weeks in Kyrgyzstan, my time in Ireland, and my homecoming. And so, Jakshilyk Bolcun, Den-Cooluk Bolcun, Igilik Bolcun, Jakshi Kalingizdar! (Basically: Good Luck and Goodbye!)