Home, Sweet Home

We're home! It was amazing to get off the jet in Manila-- the rush of heat, the Tagalog, the patience as we stood in a very long line waiting to go through immigration. Home. We're home! We loved driving through Manila, even the heavy smog having an air of the familiar. We woke the next morning in the guesthome and were greeted by friends. We played badminton at our "home court" in Manila and were warmly welcomed, and we knew intuitively how to interact. Better yet was to walk into our own house, see our own little things around, and sleep in our own beds.

Yet with the joy was a certain sadness, a realization that while this is home, it is not for long. As of today, we have exactly 6 weeks until we leave for Palawan. Before then we need to sell or pack everything and close up our house. The final goodbye to Mindanao is looking pretty sad already!

On the other hand, we are incredibly blessed by all our moving. Moving disengages our hearts from this world in ways that are difficult to do without outside influence. Upheaval and change create a hunger for eternity, the ultimate "settling down".  And we won't even have to pack for that journey!

We've been home a week now, and jet lag is slowly passing. We've unpacked our suitcases and started a "ship to Canada" pile beside our crate. Kevin has played a lot of badminton and Kaleb is trying to wear out his bicycle and give the dog exercise. Garry is getting back into flying the Cessna 185 and catching up with our aviation team. This weekend we are heading to the city for a badminton tournament, and next week we'll start school.