A Chapter...

A street vendor, our grocery store!, with a common smile. Welcome to my world here!

...of memories. It's nearing 1 am here and the early hours of the night still find me awake. My bags are packed to travel, I've visited all and more that I had hoped to see in this short time, and tried to soak up every memory and minute that I could. As a friend who hosted me was helping me pack my 2 suitcases to return to the states, I said to her...'how do you pack up a lifetime of memories?'. I had taken 5 crates of my life here and narrowed it down to one crate which I would leave with a local family here in the hope of my return next fall. The rest I gave to a new family joining our team and a few things I wanted to have with me to the States. I am bringing some things back that remind me of these people and this place that I would want with me in the event of people evacuating, because of deteriorating security, from here and not being able then to return; a carpet, a few books, gifts, and so the list goes.
Common scenes on the street. Everyone needs a hand to hold through life!


One of our faithful workers for the last 6 years...as always, with a smile and a heart of gold.

I am packing as if I won't be able to return...but hoping that I will. Wondering where the next fall will find me...and also hoping that I live to see next fall as well. Here's to clear scans!! But over all...grateful that I made it to today to see this place and it's people once again. Life if full of uncertainties, isn't it?! I am more uncertain about the future and what next fall will bring than ever before. Although my heart has peace that it has been searching for this past year. I do not know what tomorrow brings or understand the mysteries of the past...but I am grateful for where He has brought me, what I have learned and being able to experience and to just be able to enjoy today.

Today, to sit with my drivers family as we sip tea in the evening light. Smile and laugh together as we all try to capture this moment to store it in our minds until we meet up again. Today, to sit with teammates up from the South that I didn't think I would get to see. And an unexpected conversation with a local coworker from years ago whom I worked with in a village before militants soon overtook. And a fireside chat with a friend of mine that walked with me to the entrance to the Valley of this last season as I headed off from here to Dubai for surgery.

So as I head off to the States with 2 suitcases to my name and one crate here...I feel rich. Rich in all that God has graced me to experience and remember. I do not know what the future brings...but I am so glad for the past that I have been able to be a part of here. If memories could instantly create a book...what a book it would be. Face, conversations, the place and friendships etched in my mind...forever.


Visiting a good friend in the Ancient City whom I've known for years here!

a meeting with good friends that got me through years gone by AND that last week before officially being diagnosed. I hear that crisis' do not make friends...they just reveal them. How true that's been for me.

F A M I L Y

I'd like you to meet my family. A family that is really like a family to me. The husband drives me around in his beat up taxi. The young brothers I taught English from primary readers. The wife and daughter, who would often hail me from the street to come and read them stories, I met almost 6 years ago when they were gathering water at a local well. Over the years they are the ones that have looked out for me, who have welcomed me over and over into their home. And the father is the one who has since become my protector. As I exit his taxi to stand at a gate, he stands between me and the street...a barrier in case anyone would want to hurt me. He calls me when I'm sick to make sure I am taking my vitamins and asks in the morning if I went to bed on time.
                                A meal prepared for a princess...

This is the family that I spent the evening with last night. After dinner we all sat together buried in blankets, to guard from the cold, with silhouettes cast behind us by the gas lamp lighting the room. For hours we shared stories. Stories about my sisters wedding and stories about the miracle of our health. And we laughed together as families do. We soon turned in for bed, on our small cushions on the floor, and I drifted off to sleep staring at the smiling 'little girl' turned 11 years old who seemed all grown up in the land of girls who marry so young. How happy she was that her 'sister' could 'spend the night' with her.

And ordinary night...and extraordinary time.

So where have you been?

I rounded the labyrinth like bazar and finally found his tiny store door hidden by cloth. It appeared to be locked but as we knocked...there he appeared. We greeted with a flurry of sentences in the local language piled on top of each other and then proceeded into his seemingly 2 sq. foot store. The store owner looked at me to proceed to ask me what I was looking for and then took another long look before he said...'So, where have you been this year?"...and then smiled.

These reunions have been just as fun. People in the market, guards at houses, and people at the bank...all places that I didn't even have time to think about before I left. To them...I just disappeared. And returning...they have loads of questions about my year gone. Which has been equally as fun to share with them how "HE has healed me". To return after a diagnosis that I had...the dangerous kind of invasive cancer...is a large miracle to them.

Simple and Long...but Lovely

                  Hanging out with good friends in the Ancient City!!

I was finally able to board my plane and make my simple, yet long delayed, way back to the capital. My flight that was scheduled to fly out yesterday was cancelled due to a security threat which I later found out actually became real with botched suicide bombing, I hear. We departed my host home and ended up swapping drivers for a local driver so that our car would not be as noticeable as we made our way to a location with frequent security threats/attacks. I fully covered in my long black veil which draped over and engulfed me like a table cloth, leaving only my eyes visible. I have to admit that I was a bit relieved upon arriving at the airport gate.

My time went by slow as I seemed to have gotten quite sick during my last week here and I had less energy. But it was lovely to go house to house and meet up with some that I actually only remember meeting over email this past year through their letter of encouragement! So many good reunions and many stories told!                                 What a great reunion this was!!

I've always liked visiting this Ancient City as it seems like a different country with 24 hour power, hot water, and paved streets with trees and abundance of great veggies. What a beautiful place! Or maybe it's also because I didn't have to 'work' when I visited...just rest and visit. :)

So it's back to Kabul. One week left...it's hard to imagine several already flying by. Oh, so thankful for this gift of a trip. Tonight...shower night. And tomorrow evening will be spent with my drivers family...my second family here!

The Ancient City

Today found me stepping onto a domestic plane to take a trip to what we call here...'The Ancient City'. A city found along the Ancient Great Silk Road trading route dating back to the years of Alexander The Great. Centuries have passed, new buildings, power, and evidence of modernization are found everywhere...but behind it all lay a people that have changed little over the centuries. An ancient Persian culture that through the times have endured...for better or for worse.
At a local shop wearing a veil here called a chadar namaz (prayer veil). It hides one well! :)

Stronger Still

It was a day like most other days. Although yesterday we were able to meet together as a community of believers. Days like these are far and few between as security continues to deteriorate throughout the nation. As I sat there, our meeting begins with a brief description on how we would evacuate the building in case of planned attack on the fellowship. I've been in many a meeting before when this has been detailed out at the beginning of the service. This time felt different. Since the fellowship has last met together, one worker in the community was shot and killed and subsequently a whole agency has indefinitely left the country.

But yesterday, it was a celebration to meet together. To not let fear guide our hearts, but to let His love fill them. I wish that I could somehow describe the feeling in room as we met. Although my words lack the ability to capture it's true sense. And I would hate to try and miss the mark. So suffice it to say that our meeting was sacred. Hearts lifted as we joined together and were mutually encouraged by His Word and Spirit. There is something about relationships forged in the trenches of life, brought forth by the Spirit, and strengthened through sufferings.

And as they asked those to come forward who were new or had returned after a long while out,... I jumped at the opportunity and was finally able to stand and thank this group of saints that have lifted me up this last year through their countless prayers and emails. These are the group of people whose faces I have longed to see once again. Face to face. Standing at the front...I was overwhelmed by their clapping and big smiles. Bursting forth...as if to remind the enemy, and myself, that God is stronger still. That death does not have the final victory. And that the battle, really, has already been won. I pray that these simple, yet powerful truths, would continue to ring out brightly during a dark season here.

Yes, He is stronger still.

Invaluable friendships

As the days have gone by, my hours recently have been filled with endless board meetings...though today represents the last of these and I am soon able to visit locals and expats alike. The reunions will resume! Upon arriving into town...my 'new temporary' phone received a text. By who? A girl whom I used to meet with regularly to pr and talk about His word as we tried to apply it to our lives in such a way that He shined through in even the smallest of ways. It is good and invaluable to have a friend to connect with here, someone that you can be totally transparent with, a friend to hold you up when you are having a hard time standing up in what you know to be true. During several years here, I was blessed to have her walk with me. We shared many a meal, endless cups of tea, and burned countless candles as we talked late into the 'power-less' nights.

She is one of the many that I have come to see. One of the countless who have prayed for my recovery,... for my very life to be sustained.

I love a quote that I've recently heard: The results of one good-hearted person is incalculable. (O.A.)

Yes, the results of not only her prayers and walk with me...but that of countless others here is truly incalculable. I am truly grateful for each of these people.
Enjoying my favorite home-made breakfast in her backyard. What a perfect day that was!