One of the greatest God-given gifts in my life is the ability to come "home" every Christmas. I love it and begin anticipating it in September. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE my life and ministry in Berlin! It's the most fulfilling aspect of my life. My teammates, the Dyes and the Goods are also amazing gifts from God. I couldn't ask for a better ministry team. I am learning so much about ministry from these incredible ambassadors.
As much as I love life in Berlin though, it was so exciting to get on the plane December 11th and fly home, and it's been a whirlwind of activity since then. I was home 4 days before I got on another plane and flew to Indianapolis to be with my 18-year-old teammate, Breanna Good. She graduated from Army Basic Training on Friday, December 15th and I flew out to spend a couple days celebrating with her. I'm so proud of her! If you've been following my e-mail updates through 2006, you'll recall that Breanna was diagnosed last January with what doctors thought was a malignant tumor on her skull. It turned out that the tumor was benign and operable. Even still, her fear was that it would keep her from her dream of serving her country. Quite the contrary: she found out toward the end of basic training that she's been "invited" to attend West Point!!!! She is one incredible young lady! I stand in awe of her passion and determination to make her dreams come true. While I was in Indiana, I also got to see my friend, Phil Graf. I met Phil in Berlin when he was doing a study-abroad program with Purdue University. I'm mentioning him because it's been so good to see friends! There are so few people my age at my church in Berlin. I feel literally starved for Christian friendship over there! Every relationship in Berlin is a ministry project. I crave the times when friends visit or I get to come home and visit them.
Speaking of friends, 2 hours after I returned home from Indy on Sunday night, my good friend, Ben, arrived for a visit. We had a blast together Christmas shopping, hanging out and eating my mom's home-cooking. I praise God this year for friends and family. The last week has been rich enough to make up for the many previous weeks of loneliness and Christmas is yet to come! My brother, sister-in-law and niece arrive Thursday for a week. I can't wait to hold little Lana!!
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