You will never be completely at home again...

Merry Christmas!

That is was I was planning on saying a good few weeks ago when I was diligently going to add another post to my blog to keep all my amazing prayer supporters informed. And then it was exam week, and then I got pummeled with a non-COVID virus, and then I got on a plane to go hug my mom and then I hugged my mom and got on a plane again.

Long story short: It's been a while, my bad, and I got to go home for Christmas :)

Getting home for Christmas was quite an ordeal with changing travel restrictions and the ever-present uncertainty that COVID gives. But, thanks to the prayers of many and the good people at Johnson and Johnson, I was able come home for Christmas and make it back to Ecuador to continue this school year.

I was so blessed by the time I spent in West MI; although it was short, I was able to meet up with some friends and family to catch up and be refreshed. I also was blessed with a Jody's milkshake, some Diet Mtn Dew, and season 8 of Brooklyn Nine Nine. It was truly a wonderful time.

I was also cold the entire time. Going from 85º to 25º definitely has its struggles, but I managed!

*Please note in the above picture the coat and other cold-weather apparel that Rachel brought me in the airport so I could make it to the car!

While I was so grateful for every second I spent Stateside, I couldn't help but feel how strange it was to be 'back.' Granted there was a lot more snow on the ground than when I left in August, but it felt like no time had passed. It was as if Ecuador was a dream or maybe I was only dreaming of the US and would wake up in my bed in Misahuallí at any moment.

It felt strange to talk about Ecuador at first because it somehow didn't feel real.

But as time passed, I felt it become more and more real; I also felt more confident that I needed to return. I felt a deep love for the people and work the Lord has placed before me in Ecuador and I was grateful He gave me another reminder of that.

But then, I looked at my family all sitting around me and I thought about all the beautiful people I got to hug during my time, and I felt my heart slowly begin to rip in half.

What is home? Home is drinking milkshakes and fighting over the blankets on our big sectional while watching a movie with six siblings, two parents, one aunt, and two dogs. Home is sitting on the floor of the student resident home on Friday nights while eating pizza and watching a movie with all the sounds of the jungle and seven girls in the background. Home is a booth a Jody's, with friends, chicken tenders, and, once again, milkshakes (I'm sensing a pattern here...) while familiar faces walk by. Home is watching seven girls play in a river while they try to splash you the entire time. Home is hugging my family, but it's also hugging my students. How can this be?

"You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place."

-Miriam Adeney

This quote was introduced to me after spending a semester abroad, and it has only become more true in my life as I continue on the path before me. How can I be home once I've known more than one?

I am struck by something my mom said as we said goodbye again in the airport a week ago:

"I'm glad this hurts. Because if it didn't..."

And she didn't need to finish her sentence, because it's true. While the hurt is real and painful and something that I would honestly rather avoid in general, I will take that pain any day over an easy goodbye. Because the day it is easy to say goodbye is the day it doesn't matter.

So, *holds up champagne glass to toast the New Year* here's to things that matter and difficult goodbyes. May they remind us of what we love and the charge we've been given. May they inspire us to make space for what's necessary and edifying for both ourselves and the ones we love. And may they never be easy.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and follow me on my journey. Your prayers have gotten me this far, and I am counting on them to carry me on.

Right now, I specifically ask for your prayers for Ecuador and its Ministry of Education, who are discussing the idea of limiting in-person education to vaccinated students. I do not wish to be political or to take a stance on vaccines, but I do worry about how this will affect our students, their families, and our teachers. Please pray for wisdom for those in charge and grace for the school as we try to navigate new regulation to keep our school open and accredited.

Please pray also for our school as we prepare for our first Casa Abierta (Open House) to show off what our students have learned this year. This is an exciting event to bring families in to their students' education, but it is proving to be a lot of extra time and effort to coordinate for all staff.

Thank you again for your kindness in keeping up with me.

¡Bendiciones y Feliz Año Nuevo!

-Katie

P.S. THANK YOU SO MUCH to those of you who helped me buy books for my classroom. As some of you know, we have been working with PDFs downloaded on 9 devices that students share in order to read the class novel and now they all have a copy to read and bring home! I cannot express to you how grateful I am for your generosity. This was my suitcase that I brought back:

If you feel so inclined to continue this generosity, I am still in need of books for next school year (we are on a 2-year looping curriculum). Please let me know either through the blog, email, text, or Whatsapp and I can tell you what we are still looking for. THANK YOU!!