In the morning the light spills over the back wall of our house, filling the kitchen with a golden glow. If I was to climb the stairs to hang the laundry I would see the sunrise crashing against the corner of the volcano and splaying into a million beautiful rays. I prepare breakfast in my new kitchen and I feel a calm in my heart that has been missing for a long time.
David leaves early to work at the YWAM base, and Z and I spend an hour or two at the kitchen table working on his schoolwork. The neighborhood outside the front door is abuzz with the sounds of the carpenter shop next-door, the metal shop kitty-corner, and the children heading up the block to attend the school. It's not quiet, but it's pleasant. I feel surrounded by people.
Z has begun to attend an afternoon program called Light House, which takes place twice a week in a building just down the road from our house. He is loving having a special place to call "his own", and I am glad to see him growing in confidence.
Dave has been given a room at the new YWAM base to use as the "House of Prayer". He is thankful to be able to continue in his calling as an intercessor, as well as serving as kitchen manager. His giftings are being utilized to the fullest, and he seems happy every day as he leaves for work.
I am enjoying the routine of home-schooling every day, and having opportunity to spend time with friends almost every day. Hosting dinners and chatting with friends over steamy cups of tea in the living room have taken the place of watching movies every night to avoid feeling lonely. We've found a new church and been accepted immediately. Dave and I were even able to go on a date, thanks to the amazing friends willing to take care of Z!
It feels like real life. It feels happy.
Our house is filled with friends, and laughter, and plans for adopting in the next year or two, and, of course, non-stop episodes of Adventures in Odyssey (some things don't change). I'm so thankful to be back in Antigua, I really am.
As the house fills with morning light each day, the warmth reaches my heart, and I feel the love of my Heavenly Father for bringing us back to the place where we can be part of a community again.
