The coming storm

Ohio has a storm coming.  A brutal, blizzard-like storm coming.  Not exactly the kind of thing you want to happen a couple of days before you leave the country.  Flights have been delayed and cancelled all over the country from the previous storm.  The temperatures are at or near 0.  The wind chill is in the negatives.

To be honest, we're really enjoying being here during the winter.  It's a very much nice change of pace from the hot weather in Venezuela.  We never checked the weather there.  Hot and sunny.  Or hot and rainy.  Pretty predictable.  But this, this Ohio weather, you just never know what you'll get.  And we love that.

Ok, don't get us wrong, there will be a part of us that's very excited to enter back into the world of no socks, no coats, no gloves, etc.  We'll enjoy the kids feeling confident enough to dress themselves because it's not quite so complicated.  Leaving the house is a breeze.  But we don't have a car.  The grocery store might or might not (this is more likely) have milk.  It's for sure a trade off.

With going back to Venezuela comes the time of getting resettled.  It could be challenging.  Or it could be easy.  At the very least, it will be a difficult transition for some on the team.  There is potential for a really hard first few weeks back.  For everyone, including us.

We're hopeful that our kids will transition well.  They consider it home.  However, it's not easy the longer we're here.  They enjoy life here, but this also isn't reality.  This is "a special treat" as we tell the kids.  More tv to watch, more desserts, more foods they wouldn't normally get.  Of course, it's difficult for them to understand.  How do you explain what's happening to a 3 and 5 year old?

Right now, we're a little bit anxious, to be honest.  What will the coming weeks look like?  Will we even be able to get into the country again?  Will our apartment be a filthy mess (and probably incredibly hot)?  Will we be glad to be back?  Will it be easy or difficult (or somewhere in between) to step back into normal life?

This is the reality of our lives right now.  It's messy.  It's not always easy.  But we are very much ready to not be living in limbo anymore.  Our hearts need to be settled right now.  The emotional toll that this all has taken has been almost too much.  Sure, we can try to cover it up with food or time with friends or really anything, but we're ready to be home.  Will you pray with us that our hearts would embrace what God has for us during this season?  We want so much to just rest in whatever plan he has for us.

These pics are all from our time in Aruba