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In the mix of jet lag and extreme exhaustion, I've been trying to reflect on the past two weeks of our lives. No doubt, things felt as if they were happening very slowly, but they didn't. In lightening speed, we were landing in Birmingham. Our final days in India were filled with precious good-byes and quality time with friends. It was a good ending.

We flew from Delhi to Dubai and were in awe of all the wonderful things waiting for us in the Dubai airport, like Burger King and Starbucks. Our kids did pretty well on the trip, such travelers they've begun. Our 16 hour flight from Dubai to Houston, TX was long and sometimes hard. Elizabeth is 18 months old, and have you tried strapping your 18 month old to you for a stretch of 16 hours? She wasn't a fan, but did sleep for a combined few hours. The attendants on the plane were incredible and cared for my kids well. When we got to Houston, we were standing in the customs line when Madelyn made the observation that she didn't see very many "brown skin" people. There were a few Indian US citizens in line, and that was sweet, as my kids have known nothing but Indians for about a year. Catharine, being 3, has some memories of America, but India has been her home for long enough that everything in America is new to her. We saw a Chili's and excitedly sat down for some long anticipated chips and salsa, oh, and buffalo wings :) While waiting in the terminal for our flight, we were surrounded by Alabamians headed to Birmingham. That felt so normal to us. Southern drawls, easily made conversations. And then on that short flight, Elizabeth and I were both so tired that we fell asleep before takeoff and an hour and a half later woke up as we were landing!

We've been home for 3 days. It feels like we left India a very long time ago. We talk about it a lot, we think about it a lot, and we pray for the people there, a lot. I do have to say though, we are at peace. We are very confident that the decision we made was the right one. I will need to remind myself of this later on, I know that. But, as this was the hardest thing we've ever done, it was the right thing to do.

In the upcoming weeks, Catharine HAS to be seen by some kind of specialists. We think her genetic testing was negative, which is good, but she needs help. Her skin is just coming off. Her hair is thinning still. So, we need to get her help, quickly.

We are praying specifically for the following logistical things:

1. We need a 5 passenger car (can I hope for a van?)
2. We need a place to live and would love to rent a house instead of seminary apartment
3. Justin needs a job
4. We need to move to Wake Forest, at some point this fall
5. We need to make a trip to Washington State to visit my family, before we settle into routine in NC
6. Chandra may start nursing school in the spring

Please continue to lift up our friends in India who are working hard and sacrificing much. If you would like to continue supporting where we were and what we are doing, privately contact me and I can tell you how to do that.

Truly appreciate you.