Kitchen Table.

I'm sitting at my kitchen table and I'm drinking coffee from my favorite mug.

 I am home.

 It seems surreal to be back. All of a sudden I am back in a place that is so familiar, that no matter how long I've been away, it fits me like a glove. It is wonderful to be home, to see my family, to catch up on their lives. Like always, sitting around the kitchen table with endless pots of coffee [real coffee!] and sharing stories.

It will take a long time to process everything I have seen and experienced. I saw so much darkness, I saw hopelessness, and injustice. I saw suffering, oppression, and fear. But I also saw so much joy, I saw love given and received freely. I saw compassion and mercy. I saw the Light of Christ shining despite the darkness. I have learned so much about myself, my heart, my view of so many things have been changed, or refocused. I see the Justice of God in new ways, I see God as a merciful Father caring for the fatherless but my heart has been shaped in such a way that I see Him as a Just and Righteous God who is actively pursuing justice. I have learned so much about what missions really is, about what serving God and people really looks like on a day to day basis.

My heart is a sponge and I soaked everything up. I soaked up the people, the kids, and the culture. I soaked up everything that I have learned into my heart so that it becomes part of me, not just knowledge. My heart is a sponge and now it is full. My heart is so full that it threatens to burst. But at the same time, as wonderful as it is to be able to see my family, to hold them and not just see their faces on a computer screen, I left a large piece of my full overflowing heart in Greece. My heart is in two places now and it will take time to figure that out. I love Greece. I love the people. I love the culture. I love the food. But even if I hated the food and the culture and all I had was the people, my heart would still be torn in two. The ministry that I was apart of is in embedded in my heart.

But now I am home. I need to be present. I need to be all here, not that I will block out everything that I have seen and experienced, but that I will be content and have peace with being home.

The comfort of washing the dishes.

Sitting at my kitchen table.

Taking coffee to my dad as he reads.

Listening to rain.

BLT's, corn and fried okra.

These are things that make the adjustment easier. The everyday things that I missed out on. There is so much that I need to process and my sweet family is being patient with me. They know that for some things the words aren't there yet. I can't explain things, I just feel them. Time will tell. Time will reveal what I have learned, how I have been changed. Time will teach me how to be present here, but also what my role is in Greece. But for the time being,

 I am home.

Kalamos.

Our week at Kalamos was everything we thought it would be: dirt, water attacks, and lots of fun! We didn't anticipate the lack of sleep but that's part of the camp experience. The kids there were so excited to be there, Kalamos is what they live for, the highlight of their year. The camp is on the side of a mountain and it is covered in dirt, so by just being there you are covered in dirt! I was told that dumping water on peoples head was very popular, but I didn't know until I got there just how popular it was. There were days where I was damp or soaking wet the whole day. My clothes would almost dry but then I would get attacked again.  They call it "Booyellow" and it is a Greek word to describe the act of pouring water on someones head. The pastor of the 2nd Church was the director of the camp and it was his favorite thing to do. He had three rules for it: 1) it had to be unexpected 2) the water had to be very cold 3) it had to be annoying. This meant that he would wait until you had taken a shower and were clean and dry and then attack! He told us that once he had gotten his future mother-in-law, so after we heard that we knew that no one was safe!

Even though it was dirty and I was damp most of the time, it was a really great week! I loved getting to know the girls in my tent as best I could with the language barrier. There were eight girls in my tent and two tent leaders. The girls were 13-14 years old and they were the youngest group there. They taught me loads of Greek, and I even got to the level of whole sentences! They were so great and it was a joy to be around them all week. They had such a sweet spirit and they stuck together. They even cheered for me in my sad attempt at playing soccer!  I also loved getting to know the other counselors and helpers during breaks and the late night meetings.

The teaching was really great and I saw God working in the lives of the campers as they heard the Gospel everyday. I know that God is working in the lives of those kids to draw them to himself, to break down the walls they have put up, and to change their hearts. There were two kids from the community center that we worked with in Neos Kosmos that came to the camp and we were able to get to know them better and I am praying for what God will do in their lives. They are great kids and they could have a huge impact at the center and in their community.

Beth and I were in charge of games and while they didn't go how we had planned at all, they kids had fun. We filled up over 200 water balloons and they had a war, we taught them red rover and they had a blast (until someone got hurt), we played "lightening" and they tested their reflexes. But we never did as many as we had planned, and the games never went according to plan. But that's ok. We were able to be flexible and go with the flow, just like the Greeks.

It was a great week. We left exhausted, with a backpack full of dirty clothes, but we made some wonderful friends and we were sad to leave.