ReAffirm

A dozen Facebook photo albums and a million words still would not do justice to what I've learned and experienced in my year overseas planting an international church. But I'm certain I will regularly reference my year in Indonesia through future posts.

I am back in the United States. Back from one year spent in Indonesia.

Number one question I've been asked in Ann Arbor since I've been "back":
"Is it weird being back?" Hm... I'm guessing this may be an alternative question to "So how was it?"

To answer the question: Yes and no. Yes, there are some things I need to readjust and reacquaint myself with but simply, a year isn't long enough for me to forget American culture that easily. The weirdest part for me is that I returned exactly a year, to the day, from the time that I left America. In the church, the same things are going on: summer missions team is going at it full force, Excel Academy has started, LIFE groups are kicking it. Even the town is similar: the Ann Arbor Art Festival is underway, the weather is the same. So it almost feels like I've never left.

I have been spending a lot of time reconnecting with people and reaffirming my experiences, blessings, and lessons learned by sharing testimonies and finding listening ears to boast about God's goodness this past year.

Being thrown back into the reality of Ann Arbor life, especially since there are many things that are similar to years past, it seems like I've never left. So it is good that I am asked daily about my experiences in Indonesia, lest I forget too quickly. In order to solidify different convictions and lessons, I need to continue to reaffirm the positives and negatives about this past year - that they actually happened, and that they really are good, but not painting an unrealistic picture at the same time.