Our Latest (by Thom)

We're in a very interesting time right now. We've finally gotten all the paperwork finished and gotten passports and travel visas for the girls so they can come to the US. It was complicated, and there were more than a few obstacles in the way, but everything has now come through for us to return for our very first furlough. By the way, for those not in the Christian & Missionary Alliance, we actually call it Home Assignment, not furlough. I will likely interchange the terms here in the future.
Tomorrow I expect to buy our plane tickets and then we'll be all set. Like I said, it's an interesting time. I'm busy trying to make sure everything that I do in the office is covered. I never actually realized how many little tasks I did until I set out to write them down to make sure they would be taken care of! Things are falling into place, though. I'm leaving all the big and little things in capable hands.
Amanda's busy at home trying to pack up our house. Since we'll only be in the US for 3 months we'll be keeping our rental house but we still need to pack up all the knick-knacks and have everything put away to guard against the dust.
In addition to the physical things we're getting ready mentally and relationally to return home. We're excited to show off our baby girls to friends and family for the first time but we'll miss our friends here. We've made good friendships with both Malians and other missionaries. We already know that some of those missionary friends will be gone when we return and others will be leaving shortly there-after. With our Malian friends we know we'll miss them but it can be a difficult job to balance our excitement of returning to the US without sounding like we're putting down their home country. Amanda already is missing Jeanette. Alifahan (her baby) has just started walking and will be running all over when we get back.
I think over the next few weeks - even after we return to the US - I'm going to reflect here on what our first couple of years overseas has taught us about life, the church, and missions. Please keep us in your prayers as we make our final preparations to return state-side. We're so excited to be seeing you soon!