My hammock is a welcome bed as I stare up at the leaves of our baby maple tree that isn’t so baby anymore. I hear the churring of the cicadas that grace our backyard with their constant chatter. A neighbor across the road is mowing her lawn. The sounds of whooshing cars and motorcycles driving a little faster than they are supposed to on the main road near our home add some easily unnoticed background noise. It is getting to be that part of day when the sun is starting to go down and cast a golden hue on everything it touches, illuminating individual leaves and branches with its brilliance. Occasionally, the faint breeze gathers enough strength to push the windchime against itself, shyly singing out a mellow and soothing serenade in the key of C. This is my absolute favorite time of day. I love the winking of the sun as it peeks through the waving leaves of a tree, letting me frequently get a glimpse of its radiance. I love the busy sounds of the insects and evening activities going on around me as I just sit and be. I love the faint smell of Lancaster County that has become a comfort smell to me. All of these things fill me with so much joy and nostalgia.
But soon this time of day will no longer mean the same thing for me. There will be different sounds, different sights, different smells. I might not love it in the same way anymore. But maybe I’ll learn to love different parts of it. Maybe in Cambodia there will be new smells that will become familiar for me and new sounds that I learn to fall asleep to.
As much as I will miss Lancaster County and all that is familiar to me now, I am getting excited for this new adventure that is getting closer every day. I’m excited to build relationships with the people I will meet. I’m excited to eat lots of new healthy food and maybe learn to have more of a liking for fish. I’m excited to witness new parts of God’s incredibly creative mind that I’ve never even fathomed before.
I leave in two weeks. I got the news today that I will be flying out of Dulles airport at 1:35pm on Monday, September 10, 2012. It makes my departure seem so real and so much closer! But God is preparing my heart for it. My excitement is growing and belief that I can handle the soon-to-be changes with Jesus holding my hand is also becoming more of a reality.
I am hoping to update more frequently than once a month, although there are no promises, since I have no idea what my schedule will be like once I get to Phnom Penh. But I know I will be experiencing so many new things, I will have plenty to talk about, that’s for sure!
Maybe by next time I’ll have new things that are taking the place of the cicadas’ chatter and the comfort of resting beneath our dear maple tree in a hammock. As my dear friend Rose Raber says, this is not a goodbye to these familiar and wonderful things. It’s only a see-you-later.
Wholeness restored...Beauty pursued 