back in bellingham

after 48 hours - lots of time on a plane and even more hours in airports around the world we are in bellingham. and i find myself wide awake at 5 am. tim of course is still asleep (as is the rest of my family).

the trip was relatively uneventful. a few highlights or interesting moments:
1. tim and i had a 5 hour layover in bahrain - a country off the coast of saudi arabia. the airport was full of individuals in more typical middle eastern attire. i was reminded of my heart connection to the middle east and loved being back in that part of the world even for a short time. the time also reminded me of the rich time we had in israel. it was a bit difficult getting used to seeing most women in black coverings - head to toe. about 1/3 of which either had their whole face covered with a black veil or everything covered but their eyes. tim and i had a funny moment as we sat in the mcdonalds at the airport looking around at the people with a brittney spears concert on the tv - worlds collide.

2. i am convinced, at least for the time being, that a U.S. customer service representative for United airlines in the customs luggage temporary pickup area is one of the most stressful jobs in the world. as tim and i waited for a "lost" (temporarily - the bag was too excited and was headed toward the plane for seattle without us) bag we witnessed multiple break downs in the relationships around us, as families negotiated the seemingly very difficult task of recovering luggage in the narrow time of a 2-3 hour layover in U.S. customs before being processed and re-checking their bags. some families unknowingly greatly complicated their lives by only checking their luggage through to washington d.c. and not their final destination. oh dear. and the poor customer service representatives were often the ones to receive the indirect (or direct)stress/anger/lack of patience/frustration of many. not a job i would enjoy.

3. moments after going through customs and being overwhelmed with smell of ketchup and greasy burgers - further confirming, yes we are now in america. if the tee-shirts for sale of barak obama and john mccain left any question.

4. seeing my mom and danielle at the airport. so good. cried tears of joy. feels good to be home.

5. seeing faith. she was thrilled to see us (i was afraid she was going to ignore us out of sadness about being left for 7 months). she cried noises of joy and couldn't stop kissing us - going back and forth between tim and i - such a happy dog.

6. other things i love about being home - the soft feel of carpet. hot water showers. clean smelling clothes, towels and sheets. a queen size bed - so comfortable and so much space to sleep. drinking a cup of coffee in my pajamas. the expectation of fresh bagels for breakfast.

thank you all for your prayers for our journey. we look forward with great excitement to seeing many of you this month. i think more tears are on the way as we are reminded of the amazing friends and family we have and how good it feels to be back together again.