Update: Homeward Bound on Friday

Dear friends and family,

So, yesterday officially began my first day of lasts while I am here in Central Asia...it was my last Friday here, today is my last Saturday, etc.  I cannot believe that these four months are nearly over!  What I anticipated and looked forward to for so long is nearly all behind me now!  But God is good! I have learned so much!  As I begin to think and process over all that I have learned and experienced in the past 17 weeks, I am overwhelmed!  But in a good way!  There is so much to be thankful for! Each day has had its own challenges, but I have loved every minute of being here.

I am thankful for every relationship that I have, whether it has been consistent, or one that just lasted for a few minutes in a divine appointment.

I am thankful for what I have learned about culture (even through my cultural blunders that are surely too many to count) and how many opportunities there are to talk about the Truth when talking about differences in culture.

I am thankful for the Father's work in my life.  He has taught me innumerable lessons, broken me, held me, filled me with joy and love for these people.

I have learned more about Christmas this year than any other year in my whole life - which is ironic being that I am in a country that does not celebrate Christmas.  But it is that absence that has caused me to be more aware of why I celebrate Christmas - I have to seek out the real meaning, when there is nothing tangible to remind me of the Christmas season that American culture has been swallowed up in.

This week, as I spend my final days in a city that the Father has given me a love for, would you please lift up the following:

• Clarity of thought as we spend a few days in de-briefing, a time that has been planned for us to be able to reflect back over the four months and share testimonies of what the Father has done.
• That the joy of the Father would fill me
• Travel safety on Friday - it has finally turned winter here (meaning that it is no longer 70 degrees in December) and flights get canceled more frequently due to the weather.
• The beginning stages of the adjustment back to American culture and readjusting to my own home culture after diving deep and being completely immersed in a second culture for the past four months.
• That I would be able to meet with my friend, "S".  She is a dear friend that I have been able to share with many times while living here and am asking the Father that I would be able to see her one last time this week. 

I am so thankful for you.  Thank you for walking this journey with me and joining me to lift up the work that is being done here!  I can assure you that your laboring has not been in vain!

I trust that the next e-mail I send out to you all will come from America!  I look forward to seeing many of you when I return home!

Love,  Anna