Sincerest apologies

Hey everyone. For those of you who read my blog as your only way of keeping up with me, I'm so very sorry. I've actually been home for almost two months now. Posting a final update has been on my list of things to do for quite some time, as you can imagine. But instead of making excuses, I'm just going to plunge right into a rather abbreviated update.

May was very busy, as it always is no matter where I am. On top of being the last month of school and my last month in Portugal, there were a few special events that happened. One of these was a visit from a choral group from my cousin's supporting church in Toledo. They were with us for 8 days and sang over 20 concerts! And somehow they still found time to go sightseeing and shopping, and to attend a bull fight (to which we were invited as well...yay!) We had a wonderful time with them and - from what they tell me :-) - vice versa.

The last time doing things was a little sad, of course. My last time seeing the kids at the English Club, my last Sunday at the church in Samora, my last day with Noah at the apartment, my last day at the school, etc. God had placed me in Portugal for those five months, and they were wonderful. Now He was preparing me to return home. So while I was sad to leave, and while there are still many things I miss about life there, I am glad to be back in the States. I actually even went through a slight culture shock for a week or so if you can believe it! For example, I kept on expecting to hear the water heater "tick, tick, tick, tick, *fwoom*" when I turned on the hot water...and it never did!

As for what's next in my life: I don't know. For now, I'm taking that to mean that God wants me here in Chicagoland until further notice. I don't feel that He is leading me into full time missions right now, but I'm open to the option. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next!