One Month Left To Go

Ack! Less than one month remains for our mission to Cameroon. We're riding the roller coaster of emotions as we prepare to depart... One day I want to stay another three years, and the next I start searching for earlier flights home, because I don't know if I can handle even one. more. day. here. One day I wonder if we need more suitcases, the next day I debate whether or not to leave it all behind and get on the plane with just a passport and a change of clothes.

We have been reflecting on our time here, and hopefully will have more to say about our deep thoughts about mission life and evangelization and following God to the ends of the Earth. But for now, for fun, I have made a list of things I will miss about Cameroon and/or being on mission, and I have also made a list of things that I am missing now and can't wait to sink my teeth into back home (the second list is mostly food. The first list has almost nothing to do with food. hmm...)

In no particular order:
A partial list of things I will miss about Cameroon:

-Smiling, friendly people, everywhere you go

-The beautiful rainbow of clothes in church
-Available land to work and grow food for the family
-The climate
-Learning new things about the culture every day... 'aha! so THAT'S why that happened!'
-The openness to life that everyone has
-Being able to stop and just be with the people you are with, with no pressure of a schedule or timetable. The timetable exists, it is just ignored. ("Europeans have the watches, but Africans have the time.)
-Not owning a car
-People being more important than things
-The beautiful and abundant flowers
-The neighborhoods and sights on my running and walking routes
-A good Cameroonian hack/quick fix or solution to a problem using limited resources
-The friends we have made here

Things I miss about the States:
-Cheeseburgers (with green chili... yum!)
-Friends and Family

-Milkshakes-Good, solid infrastructure

-Attention to detail in tailoring, building construction, etc.

-Bacon

-Ham

-Sausage

-Meat in general

-Choice and selection, as well as customer service

-Driving

-Baseball (Go O's!)

-          Eric