Day 50: Home

At this point, as we flew home and crossed numerous time zones, time really started to blur. Once we landed in Dubai, it was time for me to say goodbye to my closest friend on the GP, Dylan Hillman. Dylan's dad worked in the Middle East, and he was actually going to meet Dylan in Dubai Airport and then go on vacation in Europe together. It was tough to part from someone I really counted as a brother, but alas, that's life and we all must move on. After I said goodbye to Dylan, the team proceeded to hang out in Dubai Airport for a little while. Now, Dubai Airport is pretty darn nice place. There's basically a mall in what is already one of the nicest airports I've ever seen. You can imagine what was what like for the GP team to experience things like air conditioning, squeaky clean public restrooms, marble floors, opulent interiors, etc, etc.

Well pretty soon, we were in the air again on our way to New York. Even though it was a 12+ hour flight, before I knew it, we were in American airspace and in another blink of an eye, we had landed at JFK Airport. Holy crap! I was back in America. After 7 weeks, I had made it back...my phone had reception, all the signs were in English, I called my family, etc., etc.

But now was the time for goodbye. After the team made it through customs, we all gathered in the hallway, and began to say our goodbyes but for real this time. Each of us had different flights back home, so as people left one by one, I knew the time was coming for me to go to my own terminal where I would await my flight to Los Angeles. Let me tell you that it was not easy waiting by myself; I felt so lonely. This was really the first time I was truly by myself for the last 7 weeks, so I was relieved when some of my teammates called me to hang out for a little while one last time.

From New York to LA was another 5 hour flight. Suffice it to say, I was pretty anxious to be home by this point and was pretty tired of flying by this point. When I finally landed, I was ready to see my family. Sure enough, there at the arrivals terminal was my family waiting for me.

One hour later, I was back in my own room. I was home. Thank You God.

I feel so blessed that one year later almost to the day since I left for New York to begin my missions trip, I get to finish this blog. Even more importantly, however, I now get to see my sister off tomorrow as she leaves for the InterVarsity Global Project 2011. Godspeed Denise. I'm excited for what God has in store for you. I'll see you in 7 weeks.

And in a few more days, Dylan will be in LA to visit for a few days. Full circle indeed. Once again, thank You God. I will always testify of Your love, grace, and goodness.

Denise, I'll be there when you return