stateside

i arrived home officially this morning. it was a long journey, but a good one... even this was filled with interesting people, unexpected twists and definative adventure.

i sat quietly in the aukland airport contemplating the past 3 months and praying over the next season as i enter "transition" yet again. (i think "transition" never really ends... we are constantly growing, moving forward into something new.) as i looked out the airport window watching the moon rose higher in a darkening sky over the clouds that seem to linger over this country that i have come to love over the past 3 months. the sky slipped gently from pink to purple to blue to gray. the tears came quietly. softly. sorrow mingled with joy that left me with a happy little grieve. i am overwhelmingly glad for the time i've had, the friends i've made, the gifts i've been given. haha, "thanks God" doesn't quite seem to express the gratitude. but what do you do when there are no other words?

i sat between bob and judy patrick on the flight to la. they love eachother, they just don't like to sit next to eachother on long flights. i think i acted as a nice buffer for them. i felt adopted by them as a daughter. bob put a pillow up on our arm rest to share, and judy offered me an extra pillow for my neck. bob gave me a hug when we got off the plane and his card too, just in case i'm ever in arizona.

la was a long layover. i spent the first 5 hours lying on the warm concrete between the international and domestic terminals talking to good friends on my phone. then, a friend from la (who was unfortunately out of town) called a friend of hers in la and before i knew it april was there to pick me up and take me to the beach. we went down to manhattan beach and walked out on the pier to watch the sunset on the longest saturday of my life and watch the moon illuminate the smog over la. we walked on the sand, too, which was cold, but felt good. then we went to in 'n out for the best burger i've had since i ate at red robin the night before i left 3 months ago. it was beautiful! april dropped me off back at the airport no longer my friend's friend, but my friend. the cutest thing is my name was almost april and people call her rachel a lot just by accident.

my direct flight to pittburgh got rerouted through charlette. too bad my ride didn't get the message.

todd is a english teacher for overachieving high schoolers in tampa. his son is a surfer in hawaii. and he always woke me up to let me know when to turn off my music and put my seat back in the upright and locked position.

kristine is from pittsburgh. she loves Jesus and she blessed me too, though i'm not sure she knows how much. there was this one time though when we were talking and she was sharing about a friend that she cares a lot about but doesn't have contact with anymore when she had to take a moment and let a few tears fall. then she said how glad she was that she was sitting next to me. she said she thinks God knew that she needed to sit there. that was special for me. but i didn't cry.
although, it was raining when i landed in pittsburgh. beautiful cold rain. it was warm air and cold rain. at one point after i was home i had to go run outside when the rain was falling especially hard to let the rain fall on my face... and on my heart.

now, i'm mostly just tired. the good news is i get to sleep now. gladly.