the sweetest thing

"The sweetest thing in all my life has been 
the longing to find 

the place where all the beauty came from." - CS Lewis

31 days. 10 planes. 6 buses. 13 hotels. 6 cities. It's hard to believe that we are at the end.. but here I sit in the LA airport,  really alone for the first time in a month. It's a weird feeling but so good to reflect on the busyness that overtook the last week of my trip. Caitlyn and I began our  week together in one of our favorite cities, resting for a few days at the beach. We took time to sleep in, read, and eat some delicious meals together. It was a much needed break for us. 

                                                                              

We took the morning of one of our days "rest days" and joined the team to visit a tribal village and encourage the people there. We brought lunch to the children and took their pictures- they had never had a picture taken of themselves! To protect their location, we met them in the middle of a rocky stream. It was quite an adventure to get there but SO BEAUTIFUL. One of those moments when you look around and have very few words for the creation in front of your eyes. Times like that make me wonder how my trust in the Lord could ever waiver when He took the time to so intricately design such beauty. When we walked up to stream and saw the people there, they were sitting up on a rock waiting for us. Southeast Asians think that light skin is beautiful and do anything they can to keep from getting tan- but I LOVE how tribal children look. That dark skin melts my heart- I would like to scoop them all up and carry them away! As we handed out food and sang songs for them, I couldn't help but think that this might be how Jesus would meet people.. quietly, under a tree between the mountains that his Father created. It was a day I will forever remember.

The rest of this week was full of flying from one city to another for child and home assessments. It has been an amazing privilege to sit with each individual child and hear how their year is going. We  also took time to pray over them, and the homes were so gracious to feed us delicious meals! There have been moments where we have so clearly seen the Lord's hand in the lives of these children, there have been a few moments of sorrow at the hardships they face, and there have many been moments of holy- when I feel a hand squeeze mine and know that the Holy Spirit is meeting us in the middle of fans blowing, through a translator that may not quite say what I mean, an occasional rat running by the door. Meeting us to encourage, work, and move in ways we can't even begin to imagine.

one of the homes we did assessments on

As I fly farther and farther away from my favorite place and people, my heart is full. I leave with so much knowledge in my head, strength in my heart, a more confident picture of who Christ has made me to be, and a deeper love for His people. One of the people we met in at the beginning of our time in Cambodia told us "we live out of deep relationships wherever we are" and that statement really struck me at my core. I have always wondered why it's so hard for me to say goodbye to people when I know I'll see them again, why I cling so tightly to relationships in my life, why change is difficult for me.. now I see it's because I find so much delight in living life with others. When I'm in America, I live deeply in my relationships there but I deeply miss my SE Asian family. When I'm in Asia,  I live deeply in my relationships there but a part of me misses people at home. Maybe it's a lose-lose situation because I'm always missing someone :) But I think it's pretty life-giving to know that there are people that I cherish and that spur me on towards Christ no matter where I am.

So home.. here I come. With quite a few tears in my eyes as I leave 1/2 of my heart in a land where rice, humidity, and beautiful children abound..  but I return home with such sweet memories of a month full of adventure, knowledge, and growth.

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 cor 9:15