Blessings of Reconnecting

One of the greatest blessings for me this summer, was being able to see some of my close MK (missionary kid) friends from my "Africa days." 

First, was Einstein--a nickname I gave her years ago. 

She came right as I was moving into my new apartment and was a huge help in settling me in. We enjoyed long walks, great talks, and lots of laughter. Both being whimsical and easily carried away by our imaginations, we find ourselves in many great adventures. 

After getting coffee one morning, we discovered a couple prettily-painted pianos downtown and I couldn't resist playing a little tune.

She came during VBS week. I was in the drama every night as a flower shop owner. Take a look at my boutique:

(Didn't the stage crew do a phenomenal job?!)

What a blessing to have Einstein around to help me work on memorizing lines...and fine-tuning my southern accent! 

She has dreads and totally rocks them!!!
Her visit was greatly encouraging.

Toward the end of July, I took a little road trip to Missouri and visited two more MK friends.

Lindsey Jo Stewart was once my neighbor in Ouagadougou and we would spend hours playing together. When I visited her in Knob Noster (I know, great name!), she was two days over-due and having contractions! Yikes! But we managed to have a splendid visit and little Emily didn't make her appearance until after I was gone! How wonderful it was to meet her husband and catch up on life!!! (Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture.)

Bekabou--as I like to call her--or Beka Joyce to the rest of you, was my last MK friend to see this summer, down in Springfield. Actually, I got to spend time with her and her sisters, which was wonderful. 

The Joyces have always felt like a second family to me. As expected, I had a blast hanging out with these girls. We always have a good time...even if it means 3 trips to Kohls in a two hour time frame! 

It is a tremendous blessing to be able to re-connect with dear friends who know parts of you that no one else does! But an even greater blessing, was the privilege for me to see firsthand how the Lord is working in their hearts and lives. They are not just old friends from Africa, but sisters in Christ.

25 Bucket List #6--and a "family" reunion

Monday evening, two of my bestest friends--my Emporia family--came back into town. I was ssssssoooooo excited!!!!!!!!! I have waited and waited and waited for this moment!

Tuesday, we went to go see the new Marvel superhero movie Guardians of the Galaxy and really enjoyed it. 

We also visited one of our all-time favorite restaurants in town: Ru Yi. We all ordered the same thing...as usual. There really is only one thing to order at Ru Yi if you want to have the full and complete experience and that is coconut shrimp. yummmmmh!

And then, it was time to accomplish #6 on the 25 Bucket List Sherlynn and I have created, which was a visit to the Family Fun Center in Emporia! After living in Emporia for 7 years (yikes!) I had yet to experience the Family Fun Center. None of us had, for that matter. With Doh and Sherlynn back in town, it was the perfect opportunity. 

First up: mini-golf.

Sherlynn is the pro.

Doh experienced mini-golf for the first time in her life and finished the course with a hole-in-one.

Can anyone guess the color of golf ball I picked out before looking at the picture? 

(Thank-you, Sherlynn, for the flattering angle!)

Bright yellow, of course! It made me so happy!

We laughed a lot!

It was quite warm that afternoon, so when we went to hand back our clubs, Doh took a moment to absorb some AC from the inside! 

Next up at the Family Fun Center: go-carts!

 This was Doh's first driving experience and after her 4th lap or so she finally started picking up speed! :) She told us later she had one foot on the gas pedal and then realized she also had her other foot on the break. Once she took that foot off, she went so much faster! She now feels ready to tackle American driving...which is really pretty much the same as go-carts, right?!

 Sherlynn won in go-carts, too! I think she secretly races her tractors back home for practice. 

My go-cart was SO SLOW!!! Seriously frustrating. I tried to physically block Sherlynn as much as possible when she would try to pass me, but since they are not bumper cars, there is only so much you can do. I sorta got the giggles while driving and laughed almost the whole time. The young boy attendant must have been much amused at us three out-of-college girls having such a blast racing each other in go-carts.

Wednesday, we got to visit more friends in town including these cute little kiddos.

 We love them so much!

By Wednesday evening, it was time for Sherlynn and my Dohbee to leave. What a wonderful visit! We spent a lot of time visiting, talking about the future, reminiscing, etc. Kyla and Gowoon, you were missed!!! 

Doh is on her way to Purdue to pursue (heehee! get it? purdue--pursue???!!!) a masters in painting. She is a brilliant artist. Sherlynn is driving her there and helping her get moved in this weekend. I wish so bad I could go along. 

My heart is already missing these girls immensely. 

the First Tom Dorsch daughter dream wedding

Have you heard the news? As of Friday at approximately 6:27, I have a brother-in-law! Whaaaaat?!?!? He's really pretty cool. We both like board games. We both like coffee. We both experienced a quesarrrrrito for the first time at Taco Bell after seeing it advertised on TV. He fits right into our family and is the perfect match for my sister. 

So, anyway, he decided he wanted to marry my younger sister and the two were wed on Friday, July 25. Everyone and everything was getting spiffed up for the big day.

(Doesn't our yard look great?)

Of course, being the steady unemotional person that I am, I didn't start crying until the day before the wedding on the way to the rehearsal. Then I cried a little during rehearsal, some more at the wedding ceremony, and then of course while giving my toast at the reception. Other than that, I was quite collected throughout the whole ordeal! 

It was such a fun and special day. Erika, the bride, my baby sister, was stunning! There is something about putting on that special white dress that makes you look exquisite and gorgeous. Unfortunately, I left my camera in Emporia, but here are a few pictures captured from my cell-phone.

 The four Tom Dorsch women.

  I was honored to be standing beside her. 

 The maids of honor! 

Don't I have beautiful sisters?

I wish I had a picture with my bouquet, because the flowers were exquisite.

 Mr. and Mrs. Albrecht!

 The stage was beautiful.

I didn't get a picture of my dad, but here are my mom and brother looking mighty fine.

I didn't get any pictures at the reception...I was too busy visiting with friends and rehearsing my toast with the other maid of honor! 

Welcome to the Dorsch family, Kyle!

I think the tradition is for the new brother-in-law to get his sisters-in-law coffee!

Btw, did anyone notice the fantastic alliteration (including internal) in my title? I was quite pleased with myself.

25 Bucket List #5

I had to go 49 days without seeing Sherlynn Goering. Talk about severe SG withdrawal! Thank goodness we have a bucket list as it gives us excuses to see each other and hang out. Not that we need an excuse...but still...the bucket list does provide quite a few new and exciting experiences. This time...my excuse to see Sherlynn, and to fulfill #5 on our 25 Bucket List, was the Pretty Prairie Rodeo. 

I had never ever been to a rodeo.

After borrowing cowboy boots, a plaid shirt, a cowboy hat, and putting my hair in pigtails, I was all set to blend in! (I even listened to country music the entire drive to Sherlynn's house in order to get back in touch with my country side!)

Poor Sherlynn. 

I asked her a lot of questions. 

The rodeo was quite entertaining. 

(I also tried my very first funnel cake.) 

I am slightly more of a Kansan now, right? 

Equally entertaining was this cute little girl. 

I was so happy to be able to spend some time with my cousins and experience a bit of their culture! 

Now, Sherlynn, it's time to go to Africa!

Fireworks and Fire

I have a lot of blogging catching up to do. 
Let's start with the fourth!

Mom came up to see my new apartment and spend a few days in Empo-town--one of those days being the fourth of July. We didn't have a big feast with homemade apple pie, we didn't grill hamburgers and hot dogs, and we didn't eat any watermelon or potato salad, but we did watch a couple World Cup games! In between the games, we went on walks. 

Our first walk led us to McDonalds for a cheap vanilla ice-cream cone. (I couldn't remember the last time I had a dipped cone and I was super excited!)

You remember seeing these earrings from last year's fourth of July post? I still have them and wear them proudly every Independence Day. 

Our second walk led us to a Kwik shop because I was craving cherry coke. Unfortunately, the cherry flavor button was broken. Mom was craving a hot dog, but we only brought $2 along with us, so we left with no hot dog and a plain coke. 

Our third walk led us to the ESU stadium for the traditional Emporia fireworks show. They were...typical fireworks. 

We went to bed around 11 and at 11:30 I woke up and saw mom staring out of my bedroom window. About 10-15 yards from my apartment is a home for the elderly and it was on fire. All of the elderly were being evacuated out.

Soon, most of my apartment complex was also evacuated. Mom and I both grabbed a couple of things, jumped in our cars, (Brittany joined us!) and drove a little further down the street to park our cars. Then we walked back to keep watching.

I honestly didn't think I'd have an apartment left by dawn. I thought for sure we weren't going to get back into our apartments due to all of the smoke. We started brainstorming places we could stay: friends' homes, a hotel, our cars... I did ask a cop if I could go back in to grab a couple more things and he let me, but stood watching from the door. 

 I have never seen so many cop cars in one place. 

Mom went to try to sleep a bit in the car and Brit and I kept watching. At about 2:30 a cop and landlord checked all the apartments and then let us back in, with the warning that if the fire got any worse, they'd be back and we would have a minute to get out before they would knock down our doors. So...Brit and I slept (not well) in our clothes with a bag packed, ready to go.

They had wire shooting from a really high ladder. When I went back into my apartment I could watch the firemen from my window climb into the attic that was still smoldering and smoking. (We found out later that the fire was caused by poorly disposed of fireworks. Thankfully, everyone made it out safe.)

No second evacuation came. There is new meaning to the question, "If your house is on fire and you could grab one thing, what would it be?" How would you answer that question?

Today I turn 9.

Today is my 9-year old USA birthday. On this very day, in 2005, I left "home" and re-entered the States. I can't believe it's been that long. The memories of the last night in Ouaga and the first night in the States are still so vivid. I was grieved, angry, sad, mournful, overwhelmed and yet was excited to see family I had not seen for four years, go to a mall, eat some American cereal, etc. Every year, this anniversary is different. One year I celebrated with American food, some years I go back and read through my journal entry from that day, most years I cry. The emotion is not explainable, but it's there. For that I'm thankful. One of my greatest fears is the day when June 27 (the day I left) and June 28 (the day I arrived) is no longer remembered. That is when the feeling of betrayal sets in. 

I was reading through a couple of psalms this morning and the LORD was good to gently remind me of His perfect sovereignty and that He deserves all praise and worship.

"For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD!"
-- Psalm 117:2--

A Silent Grief, A Quiet Sorrow

Have you ever lost someone who was so close to you that you didn't know how to explain life without mentioning their name? Remember the thousands of tears shed, the constant anguish (that feeling of two metal rods twisting in your stomach) that never seemed to leave, the agony of waiting for life to get back to normal while hoping it never does, the anger, the bitterness, the feeling of utter loneliness and despair? You go through the five stages of grief at different times in different ways. Remember all this? Now, imagine that this person is not a person after all, but a place; a place you don't think you will ever see again. You can't talk to anyone about it, because they just "wouldn't get it." They would try, a few might come close, but unless they know (or knew) the place, they will never truly fully understand. And that's what hurts. This place that shaped you and defined so much of you cannot be shared because it is not known by others. There is a depressing thought that for the rest of your life, people may never know who you really are. For so many TCK's, the loss they feel is from the death of a place, a time, an era. The tears come at unexpected times in the most random places. There is no seeming explanation. It was just a move. No one died. Those who have lost dear ones might read this and think bitterly that there is no comparison. Maybe they're right. We feel like we are not justified in our grief, that the loss really wasn't that great, and yet we grieve just the same. Silently. We carry the sorrow quietly in our hearts for days, months, years, because we can't explain it. There is a loneliness in this pain because it cannot be shared. We bury the heartache with time, because they say time heals all wounds. It doesn't.

There is only ONE who can heal, and it is He who also understands. He carries our burdens. He knows. 

17 If the Lord had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
18 When I thought, “My foot slips,”
    your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.
20 
22 But the Lord has become my stronghold,
    and my God the rock of my refuge.

Psalm 94: 17-19, 22

The mourning may be long, the sadness deep, but the Father, who is my Father, who created the sunrise and is just as faithful, has never left my side.