If we are facebook friends, then you've likely already heard the news: I'm heading back to Gracias on Monday! I'm moving in with a missionary family there to homeschool their kids, and I'm super excited to get started with my job, build new relationships, see old friends, and eat tons of baleadas.
I left Honduras last June thinking that it would be my last time living there. I knew that leaving would be a really difficult thing, but I had no clue how challenging it would be. I had new and exciting things to focus on, and I was eager to "settle down" a bit back in the US. I didn't anticipate that I'd feel far more lonely and out of place in my home country than I had in a totally foreign one, nor did I realize how overwhelming the adjustment to teaching in the US would be. I didn't expect the emotional and physical consequences of these things, or how much it could affect my daily functions. Most of all, I did not anticipate that, six months after returning home, my heart would still be aching as badly for the people and culture that I'd left as it was when I got on the plane to leave Honduras for what I'd thought was the last time.
When the opportunity to move back to Gracias came up at the time that it did, I couldn't quite believe it. For months, I'd been praying that God would help me serve to the best of my ability; I just hadn't anticipated that my request might take me out of the situation I was in and lead me to an entirely different one. The thought of moving back to the place that I missed so much made me almost giddy -- I smiled every time I thought about it. I had to pursue it. Five days later, plans were set for me to return to Gracias.
I'll do my best to keep everybody updated here, although we all know that I am an unreliable blogger (unless I have some type of sexy story involving tour guides named Rafael). Please keep sending those prayers and good vibes my way!
