less than 8 hours..

....until we load our 12 pieces of luggage and our exhausted selves on the first of too many planes and start the epic globe trot  back "home."  Only it is not as much home as it once was we are spilling over with excitement to see many of you and hug you tight.  We also know we need  to have a season to regroup, heal, vision for the future, reconnect, and be together as a family.  Saying goodbyes here is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life because as Jason said in a thank you speech at the party at our home yesterday with 200 friends and neighbors we have become more like 1/2 Zanzibari and 1/2 Wazungu.  What was once completely foreign and confusing has become dear and cherished and apart of us.  There was a cost but there are deep and amazing rewards too and we learned more about who God is and just how amazing His love is for us and everyone He has created in this amazing and diverse world.  We are changed forever by our time here and for that we are overwhelmed with gratefulness to these people, this place, and above all to our Father. Everytime I start to cry (which c'mon folks is often) people here repeat the Kiswahili proverb "Milima haikutani lakini binadamu hukutana" meaning mountains cannot move and meet each other but people can meet again.  We will never forget this place and these amazing people.

But our journey is now taking us back stateside.  We fear we are a bit "weird" and don't really fully fit in anywhere but that is ok as Jesus himself promised it and we will try to embrace all it means.  We have missed you all and a lot about "home" as well and we know He is calling us back for a time.  We have stories and pictures of this last week and we need to share because they are so special to us but with only hours left I will just say "tutaonana inshallah"
See you all on the other side.....God willing,