I Feel Home

Yesterday we drove to Quilotoa Lake. From Quito, you drive the same route that would take you back to Riobamba. It's hard for me to believe that I no longer call that city home, and never will again. That sense of familiarity and comfort you feel when you've been away from home and you're finally almost there... That's how I feel when I see the pastures, the cows chewing grass less than a foot from the road, and the snow capped volcanoes. It's a great drive if you need/want to be reminded of how good God is to us :)

Really, it's funny how more than one place can feel like home. We began our journey in Ecuador at a hostel called Kingdom Kichwa. This week, we came back to Kingdom Kichwa and I felt that warm familiarity. At the same time, I can't wait to see the flat farmland in North Carolina that I know and love so well; or to run barefoot through the plush green grass.

Most of what makes a place home are the people, the memories, your emotional attachment. Beauty can be found in the smallest things. That makes sense, right? I can only imagine how different my experience here would have been if my sister or best friend had been with me. Not saying it would have been better (or worse), but that sense of comfort and me I feel when I'm with them may have changed my view on things.

We're traveling as a group this week, all us volunteers. Part of that coming home feeling has to do with the community that we've built. After being tossed into different host family situations, coming back together feels like rejoining your family; even though we spent most of the summer apart. We've all changed and grown because of our experiences, you can see it on our faces. We learned the dangers and challenges of living in Ecuador. We faced those challenges. We learned from those challenges. We are not the timid, uncertain people we were when our flights arrived 8 weeks ago.

I can only hope that life will continue to awe and amaze me. That the simple things, like the way tall grass bends in a breeze, will maintain their beauty. I will continue to grow and change, especially as I am faced with new challenges and experiences. The question is, is my journey nearing an end, or only just beginning? Social America makes me feel like I'm getting too old, running out of time for adventures and solo life experience. I think God knows better.

Live and love❤️
Katey

Isaiah 14:27