Purpose Asia

" How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on... when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back?  " ~Frodo Baggins in The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King For all the Lord of the Rings junkies out there you'll understand it when I say I'm feeling a but like Frodo at this point. His journey of 13 months changed his life. My journey over the last 13 months has changed mine. Now, as I plan and finalize my return to Papua New Guinea (PNG) in less than two weeks, I feel like I'm trying to pick up the threads from an old life. I'm the same ..... but different, and my old life is the same ..... but different. Life, like a stream, is ever changing and much has changed both here in the USA and in PNG. I was thinking about this in relation to goodbyes in particular the other day and it struck me. Having to say goodbye is like sustaining a wound: you may be able to bring the two edges back together but it will n

A plum tree beginning to blossom in Portland I close my eyes and breath it in deeply. The soft air of a coming spring, the scents of myriads of ethnic foods mingle with the shyly budding plants. I open my eyes and watch the traffic rush past brightly colored town houses and brick buildings that house tiny mom and pop shops. Jazz music wafts from a nearby restaurant. In 28 days I'll leave the Pacific Northwest to go back to Papua New Guinea (PNG). Hard to believe. I'm starting to get this strange sort of excitement and hope I did not feel the first time I left. I did leave with hope and excitement the first time, but this time, they're different. I really feel God has something new he wants to do in me and my ministry. What is it? To be honest, I'm not sure, but I know he has something new and that's what makes me excited. There's new challenges this time. More uncertainty and emotion attached to leaving and I'd be lying to say it's easy or even a con