Home

“Where is your final destination today?” the TSA agent asks me. I respond “Entebbe, Uganda”. She looks curious, “And is that home for you?” and after a hesitation, “Yeah, I guess it is right now”.

That conversation would have gone differently one month ago before coming back to Oregon for Christmas. At that time, I was boarding the plane, ready for a break from Uganda and looking forward to the comforts that Oregon, provides. Delicious food, consistent power, fast internet, warm water – it was a going to be a good break. And it was good, but it was also exhausting. It was so good seeing friends, and family and those first couple weeks of feasting were pretty awesome, but through a wide range of things, it didn’t really feel like home. When I was leaving for Uganda last year, I wasn’t going to miss a lot about Portland, and going back I would say it has pushed me even further away from the Portland area. I’m not trying to say that I’m going to live in Uganda the rest of my life, but I don’t think when I come back that I’ll be settling back in the Portland area. Weird. And who knows what the future is going to bring, but I don’t know if Portland is going to be more than the area that all my friends live in. I’ve been wrong before, and heck, if God can lead me to Uganda he can sure bring me back to Portland. Man, I have some awesome friends though and I’m way blessed with all those friends that I got to reconnect with over the break. That was why this break was so exhausting, it was because I wanted to see everyone and catch up on life, which led to a whole lot of very similar conversations, which were awesome, but emotionally draining at the same time. As an introvert, I was seriously looking forward to whenever I got to have a night alone and do accounting work for my dad. Probably not a lot of people’s idea of a relaxing Friday night, but after a week filled with coffee-dates, that seemed to be a really necessary time for me.

So here I am in the London airport with my headphones in, watching the sunrise and reflecting on the last month. Some of you out there can relate and appreciate some good alone time after a very social stretch. Goodbyes seemed to come easier this time with a few exceptions. It was a little unreal saying goodbye to both Collin and Brett, both of whom I won’t see until days before their weddings. I couldn’t be happier for them, but it’s hard not to feel like I’m missing out on being a bigger part of their lives during this exciting time. It feels like a lot of people are a step or two further in life than I am right now, which I know isn’t necessarily the case because I have other things going on that I’m stoked about. But I got to stay with a few young married couples along the way and I was a little jealous seeing their houses, hearing about the furniture they’re building, what their visions are with the home and how their décor be able create welcoming, hospitable environments for guest. Whenever that time comes around for me, I’m going to be stoked to have a little workshop that I get to attempt to be creative and build an organizer out of old pallets.

But God’s got other plans for right now and I’m stoked he’s letting me be a part of them. I got a feeling it’s going to be a sweet year at Restore. Our American team size in Uganda will have doubled by February, from 3 to 6! Hopefully we’ll get our school’s Guest House operating, build some more classrooms, work on the main hall, build a legit soccer pitch, and make the place even cooler with other things that will be fun surprises along the way. I forget what update I gave last time, but I’m going to be there for another year continuing to help direct construction. It’s going to be a good time! I feel like I have most the job stuff down and can hit the ground running and hopefully without running myself into the ground. We’ll see how that works out.

It’s been a fun break America. Thanks for the good times, delicious food, and reminder of the great friends I have. Back to Gulu. Back to my “Home”, at least for now.