The 22nd Dear ______ Post

Dear Picture Someone Posted on Facebook, I think you are pretty awesome and wish the world could see how awesome people like this little girl are!

Dear Baby Shower, My mom and I are throwing you for my sister-in-law (and niece) today. It's been so much fun planning you, gathering all sorts of pink decorations, and plan that yummy shower food that we all love. I can't wait to see all of our family coming together later today to celebrate the soon-to-be arrival of my first niece. :)

And speaking of the baby shower... 

Dear Food Served at Showers, You are pretty great. Does anyone else agree? I love finger foods like that...mini sandwiches, fruit or veggie trays, little pastries... Yum! :)

Dear Bag Full of Clothes, You were given to me this week by a friend. You contained quite a variety of clothing options and almost all of them fit perfectly. How could this person have known the types of clothes I still wanted to purchase before heading back overseas? How could this person have known that I was worried about not having the money to buy those clothes? They couldn't have. But God did. YAY for God looking out for us!

Dear Weight Loss, I was worried when I left Dakar. I thought I'd gain all the weight back that I'd lost. But thankfully, I haven't. Has it been hard? Yes. ...even more so here in the land of fast food, drive thru restaurants, and unlimited refills. But it's so been worth it! :)

Dear Ice Cream, This past Sunday was the National Ice Cream Day. Go figure. I didn't realize there was a day set aside to celebrate your awesomeness. And don't worry ice cream. I put aside my weight loss goals for one night and indulged in some incredibly yummy Blue Bell Milk Chocolate Ice Creamy goodness :) And as a side note...that ice cream must have a LOT of caffeine because I was wide awake until about 4:00 in the morning. Needless to say, when my alarm went off at 6:00, it was incredibily hard to get up.

Dear Homesick, You're such a non-fun feeling. ...not to mention, at times being confusing. When I'm in Dakar, I often get homesick for America, my family, and those comfort items. But when I'm in America, I get homesick for Dakar. I miss my apartment, my friends, my work, the places and people that make that city so awesome. Right now, I'm having an amazing time with my family. I'm loving all this time spent with them and with friends I haven't seen in a while, but you know, I'm just really homesick for Dakar. I think it's time to go home...

And speaking of that...

Dear Senegal, I get to talk to 30 second graders about you on Monday. They're excited. Their teachers are excited. And I'm excited! The best part is that even though this is a public school, they have NOT limited me to what I can talk about. ...meaning, I can bring up God when I want. :)

Dear Cereal, I've never really been your biggest fan. Sure, I'd eat you. But I've never really enjoyed you. This summer, however, I've developed a big love for you and I have eaten you for breakfast (or a snack) probably 5 or 6 days out of the week. Look at me broadening my food repertoire :)

Dear Sadness, You're what I felt earlier this week, upon watching the news and hearing of two 16 year old girls that were killed in a car wreck. The girls were coming home from a weekend at their grandparents' house when a drunk driver ran a red light and T-boned their car with his 18-wheeler. The girls died before their parents could have a chance to say goodbye. The driver of the 18-wheeler got away with not even a scratch. He was of course arrested and will now have to live with the knowledge that his STUPID actions caused the death of those girls. But there was a silver lining... The girls' parents said both girls were believers of Jesus and they hoped that their death would now be an inspiration to others to accept Him as their personal Savior before its too late.

Dear Rain, You accompanied me the ENTIRE way back to my parents' house Thursday. That's approximately 250 miles. In fact, you were so bad at a couple times that I had to stop and wait it out until I could see more than 10 feet in front of me. You were soooo NOT a fun travel buddy, just so ya know.

Dear Brakes on my Car, You decided to go bad this week. I'm not happy that you went out. However, I am definitely grateful you didn't go bad in the middle of traffic and cause a wreck, or worse. And major shout out to the people that paid for that brake job, let me borrow a vehicle to get back and forth to school while it was in the shop, and then let me to continue to borrow their vehicle even though mine was fixed since my A/C still wasn't working. See world - good people do still exist. :)

Dear Day with my Dad, You're what I had yesterday. We went shopping. ...or rather, I went shopping and he sat in the truck outside. :) He treated me to lunch. We got to spend time talking, laughing, and catching up. Yesterday was a blessing and it's days like that that hold me over when I'm in Dakar and missing him terribly. :)

Dear Georgetown Assembly of God Church Family, I've really enjoyed spending this summer with you guys. It's been such a great stroll down memory lane every time I pull into the parking lot. I was really excited when Pastor asked me to share with you guys about my ministry in Senegal. Tomorrow morning's the day. And I can't wait! :)