Coming Home

Coming Home

When I left Cambodia 9 months ago, I had lived here for 13 plus years and I could not wait to leave.  This past Saturday I stepped off the plane and was amazed at how excited it was and how much it felt like I was coming home.  

I have not written much in the past months, I think I was just tired, and nothing was sparking my mind to talk about.  It involved much sleep and mindless actives, but my mind in renewed and has been a bit on sensory overload.  

The heat is as oppressive, but I am used to that.  Things have changed, new businesses have opened and old friends have closed their shops and moved into new ventures.  Projects have been completed and new projects started.  It is the way of life, change and progress. 

But underneath it all are friends, smiles and great memories.  It has been a busy week catching up with people and helping Divine get a new foot hold and vision for the future. Jet lag won out the other day, but I am pretty sure the smile has not left my face, since meeting a friend who picked us up at the airport.  

Not slowed by the rain or the heat they days are quickly passing and soon I will be headed back to my apartment in Kansas.  It is a sign of the modern times, jet travel and moving around.  But what I have learned in the past few months, is home is where you have friends, a sense of purpose and want to hang your hat, literally. 

I am a blessed girl, because I can feel at home in Cambodia, Southern California and now Kansas. 

A view of Pike’s Peak

So often in life, I go about my day to day and fail to look up and enjoy the beauty around me.  It is usually in times when I stop and take time to be still and revel in the solitude that I become aware of what is around me.  This week I am at Quaker Ridge Camp - enjoying wonderful fellowship, food and laughter together with my cohort in the Masters of Transformational Leadership.

But the most profound time up to now is the times we meet together in worship.  We meet in a room called the Great Room, and we gather in a semi-circle, which has an unobstructed view of Pike’s Peak.  We have shared scripture, prayed and sung together, but also enjoyed times of silence in the Quaker tradition.

In those times of silence, I have been gazing upon the mountain.  We have many references to mountains in our Christian walk, and through out the scriptures.  But in the last few days I have been reminded of many times where I was metaphorically standing on the mountain top and shouting God’s praises.

As well as when I was literally standing at Uhuru Point on top of Mount Kilimanjaro, a number of years ago.  Uhuru mean Freedom in Swahili.  What I realized in this time of contemplation is that the God I meet and walk with in the valleys, is the one who gives me the freedom to sing his praises on the mountain top. 

My prayer is that this week you, relive some mountain top experiences with God, and sing his praises to anyone who will listen.