Precious People

Thanksgiving with my dear sister Leah - the first Thanksgiving we have spent together since 2003.

 I have been in the states almost two weeks and back in Oregon for about five days.  My heart has been aching lately...aching with joy!

When you see, talk to and embrace people you have not seen for well over a year,  or you meet new ones you have only ever heard about, your heart tends to expand - filling with joy.

Me, far right, with my good friend and fellow missionary Karina, whom I have not seen since June in Uganda, and my beautiful Marmee (Mom).

I am loving, loving being home!  But it's not just the consistently hot showers or the fact that I get to wear my winter duds, or have access to any one of my favorite foods, but what has really thrilled my heart lately has been to be with precious, precious people.

Oftentimes you don't truly treasure something or someone until you have to be apart from it for an extended time or over a long distance.

Though I am happy Christmas and its related activities are just around the corner, I am even more excited to connect and reunite with others in the coming days and weeks!

With dear, dear friends

I am going to make this a short post, but I just want to urge all of you to enjoy, treasure, invest in and value each and every person you get to be with today. Don't take them for granted. These times and seasons are fleeting and today will soon become a memory. 

Make it a treasured memory.