2015. What Does It All Mean?

Whenever a new year approaches I feel like it's a standard comment for people to say "I can't believe it's XXXX year already." So pardon me if I fall into that trap, but 2015 holds even more significance for me so it seems really unbelievable that we're here.

When we signed up with Maryknoll Lay Missioners in 2011 we signed a 3 1/2 year contract and made a commitment that we'd live in Tanzania at least until 2015. So, the year 2015 has been a date riding large in our minds and has seemed so far away for so long. Almost unattainable. But now, in seemingly a blink of an eye, here we are.

So what does 2015 mean? Well, sometime this year we will head back to the live in the US again.  That's no small feat and I expect, despite all the wonderful things that will come with the move, it'll be even harder to return than it was to leave. Just take the logistics: find jobs, find housing, get things we need to live in a house (Furniture, essential items, etc. We got rid of almost everything when we left), get a car or some sort of transport. This is just the tip of the iceberg not even including cultural adjustments, and it's all very daunting.

Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to see how this next year unfolds. There's going to be so much good stuff! Reunions with family and friends. Exciting new jobs and career endeavors hopefully putting what we've learned over the past 3 years to good use. Saying goodbye to constant cultural misunderstandings, power and water outages, and limited access to... well, everything. Hopefully we'll be able to start the foster care and/or adoption process. There's so much to look forward to it just makes my heart happy thinking about it.

But also, 2015 is the end of era for us in some way. For the better part of our lives it has been a dream of mine and Chris's to live in Africa. This year we will have fulfilled that dream and, not that we can't ever move back here or to another foreign country, it's just a strange thing to think that that goal is in the past. We will always say "remember when we lived in Tanzania and this and such happened," instead of saying "when we live in Africa it would be nice if we could do this and such." So strange.

So, here's to 2015, y'all. The end of an era. The end of a dream fulfilled and the start of new dreams and new eras. Yikes! Now, can anyone help us find jobs?