Imagine, for a moment, you are six years old. (Can you remember back that far???) Do you remember that intense feeling of excitement, that only a child can feel, on Christmas Eve?? The anticipation of Santa and presents… the magic of the whole evening… wanting it desperately to be Christmas morning, and knowing you still had to sleep through the night. Remember??

That overwhelming feeling of wanting time to move faster while it feels like it is slowing down is…. frustrating, agonizing… torturing and taunting me.

But instead of being six years old… I am a woman of 22. And instead of Santa (which, ironically spells satan if you mix up the letters… eek!) and presents… I am anticipating  coming home. Being with family and friends and Jared… and relaxing in the comfort that I know I can talk to anyone I want to, at any store, and understand what they are saying!!! Woohoo!!!! GO ME!

But I tell you what… being stuck in the Christmas Eve Syndrome…. is not fun. Especially when getting to sleep at night is important for waking up on time and going to a job.

Anyway, I anticipate that this will be the theme of the days to follow until I arrive in Colorado. So, in order to prevent myself from becoming redundant… and  unless something amazing happens that I must share… this will be my last post from Japan this year.

Does anyone else ever get the overwhelming feeling that you want to write something down, but there always seems to be too much to write? And that even if you did write it down, there is no way to capture the wonderfulness of all that has happened. The good, the bad, the hard and the wonderful. Not that it matters if a single other person reads it… but in fear of the reality, that if I do not write it down, I shall begin to forget pieces of these wonderful memories a little at a time.

I feel like this about my experience in Japan.

All I can say now, is that I am ready to come home… just for three weeks. And then I will begin again, renewed and refreshed… facing my challange to be here with my face into the wind.

A weekend getaway with Christian friends was awesome…. but it left me thirsty for more…

Coming home… so soon.