They're married!

This last weekend I got to go down to Texas to see two of my china teammates get married. Their story is such a great example of God's faithfulness. Amanda is probably one of my closest friends. I seriously could not have survived China without her. I remember the first time she told me she liked Brent, then sat with her while her heart was breaking thinking he liked someone else (which coincidentally was the same week he decided that he REALLY liked Amanda), screaming over the phone when she told me about their "not a date" date, laughing with her about all the various rules they had to follow, holding her hand as he got on a train to leave the country. Praying while two second delay skype conversations were happening in the other room, getting an amazing voicemail from Brent telling me he needed to ask about "jewelry". I am so excited to have been along for your ride my friends! I'm way excited to continue to adventure with you through this next stage.



It was also really refreshing to see about half of our wh team. I didn't really ever expect to see some of them again. Like Rob who just happened to be in Mexico during December (he lives in Australia) or nate who just got back from the field last month. I figured this would happen, but we all just sort of fell back into step when we got around each other. Amanda and I couldn't stop cracking each other up (and talking REALLY loud). I had almost forgotten what it was like to be around people who know all the nooks and crannies of my heart, and yet they still love me. The highlite (aside from the wedding) was us getting to eat dinner together after the wedding. In China, every Sunday after church, we'd always go out to eat. Some of the funniest things happened at our meals together. This one was no exception. It's been a long time since I've laughed that hard. AND thanks to my stellar guys, I got a birthday song and sopapila. The wait staff came out singing happy birthday and bearing softserve with a candle in it. I was so surprised, I almost asked whose birthday it was. I don't know that I've ever really been surprised on my birthday before. Way to go guys.



After dinner stace and I had to leave to drive back to Kansas city. It was really hard to leave. We kept trying to stall, anything to stay around them longer. It was like the airport trips all over again. I am so thankful for the time I had with them, but it didn't make it any easier to walk away. It felt like I was re-entering America all over again. Leaving those who knew me so well, who I could let it all out with, and entering a place that I'm not for sure accepts who I am at my deepest level.



I sure do love you guys and can't wait until the next of us gets married so we can all get together again! zaijian!