return of the slacker: the last days

First, before I get on with what this post is really all about: I feel guilty for not blogging all the way through February and most of this month. There is no real reason, only that I just didn’t get around to documenting my recent adventures. What is that Strickland always calls Marty in the Back to the Future movies? Oh yes, SLACKER. I have been one of those as of late. But now, I’m going to make up for it.

And this brings me to the purpose of this post and all other subsequent posts. Today is the first day of my last full week in Mongolia (I leave April 1st – I know, I know. It’s not a joke). Therefore, it is necessary, in my opinion, to produce a post for every day this week and the first half of the next to share about how this whole transitioning experience is going down.

Because it’s not easy.

So here it goes:

Overall, my time in Mongolia has been a positive, growing experience. Of course there were frustrating (no hot water for nearly three weeks, inconsistent electricity, bad Mongolian language skills), sad (seeing lots and lots of little kids living on the street and begging) and downright miserable (teaching high school) days but there were also some really superb ones with lots of laughter (like when I was gifted an absolutely hideous green sweater as a prank), love (sharing Thanksgivings and Christmases with my JCS family, eating tsuivan with my copy shop brothers), friendship (creating a special, rather complex highfive-handshake with my friend Bat-tsetseg), adventure (mis-adventures, actually...too many to count) and beauty (Lake Huvsgul). God has been good to nourish me in all circumstances.

I am sad to leave Mongolia. I consider this place a home – which I realize probably strikes many of you as bizarre. It’s always hard to leave a home, no matter how strange it might be. But as difficult as this ‘uprooting’ process can be, I’m ready to move on. I’m excited for the new opportunities God has crafted and placed before me in America.

One thing I have learned is that being a msnry* is not so much dependent on geography or profession, but rather it is a dynamic and relational part of being a Christian. I won’t stop being one when I leave Mongolia, just like I didn’t become one when I came. My good Father calls me to love him and to love others, and that’s exactly what I want to do and how I want to live no matter where I’m located.

*I often misspell words, but this one is not a misspelling....