Wow, It's been quite a month since I last posted. As I sit here backstage at the theatre where I'll be working for the next six weeks or so, It seems like a hundred years ago that I was standing in front of a classroom in Morogoro...and it feels like yesterday.
The last couple of weeks in Tanzania were wonderful. At least in hindsight. I have some vague memories of being really frustrated that the students were getting lazy and unfocused (It happens to everyone at the end right?) but like I learned from Oprah, we don't get much from holding onto the bad memories but we get a lot by keeping the good ones! The English school graduation was great. We had some skips and bumps but everyone took it in stride and the students did such an amazing job! They all gave little speeches and I was so proud of them. One woman in particular, Bilha, said more that day than in the whole time I knew her! She went on and on all in English and I was sooooo proud! Her husband came from Dodoma (about a 5hr bus ride) and it was great to meet him and everyone else's families. Kanuti's speech was so funny! You should have seen me blushing when he told everyone "My teacher is so beautiful. I love her very much and she loves me." I wish everyone could know this guy! He was truly a blessing to me.

It was hard to say goodbye to everyone but at the same time I had such peace about going, like it was really the right thing to be doing. I built such great friendships with so many people and I'm confident that they will continue wherever we are in the world. I had a great send off with Bev and the American team accompanying me to Dar. We visited some kind of touristy places which was actually kind of nice as I could pick up some souveniry type things that you couldn't really find in Morogoro.

After saying goodbye to Tanzania I had another fabulous two weeks in Norway. Ive never been at this time of year before and it was WONDERFUL. I arrived on the longest day of the summer and spent part of the time in Levanger where it never got dark! It is always great to be there and spend time with my friends there. Because the real foundation of our relationships is Jesus, it never seems to matter how long we are apart, we just fall back in like we are together every day. I am so grateful to have people in my life who consistently challenge me in my faith and encourage me to grow closer to God.

It's actually a little bit scary to be home now. I feel like I have changed so much in the past year. God has done a lot in me and it's strange to be coming back here such a diferent person. I don't have a lot of friends here who have the same values that I have and I have to say that I don't want to go back to being the person I was. God has good plans for us, I know that and I don't want to miss out on any of them!