joanna in the philippines

Hey everybody! Well, I am home now... I arrived yesterday afternoon to Orlando, and was so excited to be back in my hometown. Im sure a lot of people didn't even know I was traveling yet, I am sorry! I havent had access to the internet since the last time I wrote, so I wasn't able to write and keep yall updated, but I am safely home now, and so thats good! The last week of my time in the Philippines was so fun... it was the field conferences, so all the missionaries gathered at a coconut plantation/ camp place and had 5 days of fellowship, meetings, relaxing time, and, if you were me, 15 hours of toddler time :) Yes, I was able to spend each morning for the 4 days of meetings with a bunch of 2 and 3 year olds. I had fun... I was tired, but it was such a blessing to me! The room was decorated all colorful, and the kids were so cute, and we had crafts, and snack times, and game time, and singing time, and we avoided conflict by finding OTHER airplanes to play with, and we calmed ourselves from crying by reading MORE books... ha, but it was a fun time! I was thankful that I didn't have to start from scratch to think of ideas of things to do... Heidi Bamford, an awesome missionary lady, along with her husband Jon, came up with all of the ideas, and got all the supplies together, so all I needed to do was help with some craft prep and set up the room and be there to play with the kids! So, that was huge blessing! Heide had the nursery next door, so she had her hands full as well! Well... it was a fun week, and I really did get worn out, and I got a nasty cold, but at the end of the day, I came away encouraged and blessed, and I would do it again! The time at conference (away from the toddler room) was also fun! I spent time with Levi, Emma, Koi and Thea, and also their parents! :) I hung out with my new friend Anja from the Faroe Islands, and I got to see my aunt and uncle, Bob and Becky there (they brought a team from their church to do the K-12 programs, which was awesome!). I got to read, swing on a swing for hours on end, look at the biggest St bernard I had ever seen, spend many hours at the snack shop talking and hanging out with others, and also was able to sit in on the evening meetings that Bill Mierstra spoke at, which was super encouraging and SO good... He spoke a lot about Calvary, and that no matter what happens in this life, no matter what hardships I go through, at the end of the day it comes down to the simple fact that, because of Calvary, I am more than Okay, and that that is enough! What happened at Calvary has completed me in every aspect... it really puts things into perspective now that I look at life and the everyday things in that way... and, if you have no clue what happened at Calvary, ask me! I would love to share ;) He also tied all his meetings around a simple quote that Socrates said... "It may be that a Holy God can forgive sin, but I don't know how!" That was neat too, just how the thing that God needed was righteousness, since He is total righteousness... and we humans are NOT that. But it took the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ to be the forgiveness of our sins... it was His righteousness that made it possible for God to forgive our sins... had nothing to do with us! (thank the Lord)... Here's a cool verse about it... 2 Corinthians 5:21... "God made Him who had no sin to become sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Good stuff... isn't it also cool to see other great thinkers like Socrates to be thinking of things like that? It's easier to share about God's forgiveness with others when it begins with some great popular "world" thinker like Socrates, than it is with say, some Christian author or something... I dunno... Bill Mierstra has used that quote to begin many conversations that lead someone to the Lord... It was encouraging to hear all he had to say! Okay, well, not sure if that made any sense, but it did to my heart, and it was encouraged!!

So, after conference, the Epps and Rosviks and I headed back to Manila for my last time... we stayed at a nice hotel for the night, and went swimming and hung out, and went to a beautiful breakfast buffet that we had complimentary passes to (YEssssssssss) and ate in luxury for once in our lives! Ha... it was super nice though... and lets just say that there'd be no way we'd go if we had to pay... so it was cool to go for free! Also, they had the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted in my 21 years of drinking hot chocolate... mmmmm... Well, anyways, yes, then Monday we checked out of the hotel and it was my last day there, so we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off doing random, stressful things! :) What a wonderful day! ha... it was pretty crazy, but it slowed down by dinner time, where we ate at Chili's for my last meal, and it was so nice. Then, in the parking lot, I said goodbye to Sarah and all the kids... it was tough, and I still haven't let myself think about it yet, so I won't know, that way my tears don't get in the way of my typing. So they all left, an Char and I went to the bookstore and I got a book for the airplane, and then we got coffee one last time and talked for a long time, and got a taxi back to the guest house. It was late, around 10 or so, and I weighed up my bags, and then at around 12 or so Markus and my aunt and uncle got there in a taxi (they had been at M and S's hotel talking) and Don and Markus took my and all my stuff to the airport.... another goodbye... to Char and Bob and Becky, then Markus and Don. But they were through, and I was on my own! *tear* Well... traveling went well... if any of you guessed that I may be a wreck traveling and prayed for me, well, thanks, because I usually am a wreck and I need all the prayers I can get ;) but, I was okay this time! It went well. I had to wait until 3:30 am for the desk to check-in even opened, so I sat in the front of the Manila airport for like 3 hours, but no problems. Then finally got on the plane and it was 5 hours to Japan. Then in Japan we had a few hours of more sitting.... but it was fine... it was during the day and I could finally see the ocean... its right on the ocean (or a BIG body of water... who knows. but since Japan is just a big island (or 2 or 3) i am assuming it was the ocean). It was cool to look at, whatever it was. I imagined I was in an airplane during the war... morbid, I know, but I wonder how many others flew over the same places I did. Hmmm... well, finally we boarded the long plane ride... I had a window seat... and i got to watch Japan below me... super cool. Saw a bunch of BIG mountains... but if I were on the right side I could have seen Mt. Fugi, but I did take some pics of other big mountains, and I could probably tell anyone that they were Mt Fugi and they'd believe me, so Im still cool! Ha... it was a fine plane ride. I sat there, never really slept much. I did read some, watched part of a few movies, and listened to some music, ate some... never got out of my seat... the big chinese mad sitting next to me never did either, he just slept, so I didn't really want to wake him just to walk around, so I was content relaxing. Once we got back over land I really had fun watching the land below me. It wasnt too cloudy, so I got a good view most of the way. It was night, and I could see towns come and go with their lights. Then when it was light it was endless farmland... but it was cool. I like looking out windows... i enjoy it. Next long flight I have Ill have to remember to get a window seat! Well, finally I recognized Lake Michigan and we began to descend and finally landed in Detroit Michigan! Oh was I happy... tired too, but happy! Once I was back in America I just grinned for a long time... I could talk to people finally!!!!! They understood me... and they weren't all a foot shorter than me with dark hair! I was quite happy... went through customs with no problem. Found my luggage and re-checked it with no problem. Found my gate, which was right next to a Caribou Coffee (a place I loved while I was in Bible School) so I got some coffee and a quesidilla from Taco Bell and sat by my gate for the next 2 hours... good times! When I landed in Florida I was even more giddy... I was happy to see my parents, and even more thankful to be done with flying! Well... got home and talked about lots with my parents, and talked to a few friends, and finally went to bed. After 50 hours of being awake (no lies, but there might have been a few "short naps" that I took every now and then on the plane, you know, when you fall asleep but don't know how long it had been or whats happening), I slept for 18 hours. Ha, so I just woke up a few hours ago, but I think I will be ready to go back to sleep in a couple more hours, which is great, because I will be kind of on schedule here on the East Coast.

Well, I have yet to really sit down and think about leaving all those precious people back in the Philippines, but when that time comes I think I will need some tissue. I had an amazing time there, made some life-long friends, learned a lot about my God and the gracious way He works in my life each day, and got to know my sister and her family better. Thank you all SO much for being there with me on this trip, reading my updates, sending me notes, helping me out financially, and praying for me. You guys are great, I love you all, and I am sad to think this is over! Maybe I will end up there one day for life... we'll see where God leads me. Right now, I am planning on working here in Sanford for the next months, hopefully at the City of Sanford where I was before, maybe somewhere else as well, and then applying at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for next fall... so we'll see where I end up! Thanks again, and I hope I will hear from you all... maybe Ill even update here every now and then... even though it will be going against my title... how much do titles matter anyways??? huh? ha ... well, God Bless you all!