i think that once you catch the vision of the needs there are all around the world, your life is drastically changed for the rest of forever.

it's hard when most people would describe you as rather unemotional to know that when you see pictures of people in third-world countries that your eyes are almost guaranteed to well with tears and that you just want to be with them in order to know their stories and in order to be a support to them in a way that they may have never experienced before. it doesn't matter if you can or can't speak their language; you know you could communicate with them enough to hopefully make them feel special, unique, loved, and appreciated.

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the three of us girls talked to our beloved Thatta this past week. thinking of hearing his laughter on the phone still brings a smile to my face; i hate, though, that we weren't there to see him throw his hands up above his head or his belly jiggle as we were talking and laughing. he told us that the children are now bathing in the canal that runs alongside the road of the orphanage. i can just imagine them playing in the water together, laughing and chattering the whole time.

i miss their joy. i miss the simplicity. i miss the warm nights, under the stars, sitting on the steps, waiting for the children to pile on my lap after they ate dinner.

i hate that i am becoming restless in the unknown of what next summer may hold. i need to be reminded of the importance of trusting blindly, and i need to remember how important confident hope is. may i never forget the lessons i learned this summer or the people who are truly my family living halfway around the world from me, but may i rest in the fact that his ways are far above mine.