Home Sweet Home: Reflections

I'm HOME!! Flying into Seattle I was absolutely giddy with excitement; to see family, friends, the mountains, and be back in my little nook of the PNW that I call home. The first few days I was running on pure adrenaline. Then jetlag kicked in as the week went on but I never felt it as bad as I thought I would. The hardest part of coming back wasn't the jetlag but adjusting back to the culture. It's hard to return back to normal after seeing some of the things that I saw in Israel. Seeing all the pain and hearing the stories of Israeli's and Palestinians who long for peace but just can't seem to get it. Having conversations with these people as they beg for us to not forget them in our prayers. And then going to places in the Holy Land that are recognized as places that our Savior could have walked! All of this happening in the same place: tension in a land that should be peaceful. And then returning to the United States, where I feel so removed from it all, and life moves on. These people made an impact on me and I think about them a lot. I'm not worried that I will forget about them because I don't think I ever could. I ask that you join me in remembering the people of Israel in prayer.

So when people ask me how my trip was, sometimes I don't know how to respond. It was amazing, I made new friends, had once in a lifetime experiences, learned so much, grew so much.... but it was hard. I left more confused, more heartbroken. God definitely took this trip and blew my expectations out of the water! That's what I prayed for before the trip and He definitely answered that prayer!

I look forward to seeing how all of this will continue to effect me in the future, reading Bible stories and making those visual connections. I still can't believe that I was in Israel, it still hasn't sunk in. I had an amazing time and am so glad that I could go! And I wouldn't mind going back someday again :)

Thanks for reading my blog, I hope it helped you feel connected in some form to what we were doing each day on the trip and you could see a little insight to what I was feeling as this trip progressed as well. Thanks again for all the support via social media and prayer throughout this whole process. I felt your love!

Blessings!!!
Courtney

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