homebound

Álo!

Well, after a long absence, Kelly and I are entering back into blogging.  We've missed you!!  I wanted to post a letter today that many of you are likely receiving in the mail today - maybe tomorrow - maybe sometime after that.  I expect that over the next couple of weeks we'll have much more to say, but for now, enjoy an electronic copy of the snail mail that is on the way:

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Saludo!

Greetings from the Dominican Republic!  The weather is changing here.  We can feel it.  It’s not the midday heat; it’s the rooster’s sun and the evening air that signals Spring and her faithful friend Summer are arriving.  And it’s the kids too.  They’re restless – looking towards the freedom of vacation and yet still aware of the days of learning at hand.  It’s marked by the new growth and in the change of fruit.  The Platáno trees planted in March have reached out of the earth and have begun to climb towards maturity.  The Mangos have started to appear sparingly in the markets – eaten while still green as we can’t wait for the impending moment when they have come fully into season.  Everywhere we look, creation is moving towards a change of seasons.

It is out of the paradox of “already not yet” that Kelly and I have passed our days here in this beautiful culture – but it’s with fresh awareness of change that we write to you.  The season of life that brought us to the Dominican is whispering its goodbyes and urging us onto that which is next.  Even as we are trying to pace ourselves to stretch our days, time seems to be moving with hastening speed. 

We were talking today, just Kelly and I, stealing a moment together alone – and she said to me, “isn’t it interesting; kids were what we knew before we came down here, but it was adults that God has used to change us – to teach us the most about ourselves.  It’s as if He said, you may know kids, but do you know you, and do you know me?  Watch as I use a culture and a people that you don’t know to teach you more about who I have created you to be.”  We have indeed fallen in love with kids down here – Luisito, Danielito, Yilenny, Maciel, Negrito, Algenny, Franklin and the list goes on.  But it has been the friends that we’ve made that have been the biggest part of our lives, and whom have had the biggest impact on us – Manuela, Renzo, ElBin, Edwin, Daisey, David, Julio and Maritza, our whole interpreter crew and our amazing neighbors, among many others.

And so we find ourselves embracing the children and our friends with greater sentiment – laughing a little louder, relaxing a little more into relationships with an easiness that time brings, discovering new joys, clinging to last moments.  We have found ourselves repeating Dominican phrases that we long to have as part of our lives: “Give time to time”, “If God wills it”, “Where two can eat, three can eat”, “Con paciencia y calma, el burro se sube la palma”.

In just under two months, Kelly and I will get on a plane bound for Seattle.  We will have said to our friends down here that we will see them later (because “los que dicen Adios, nunca vuelven”) and will weep for love of them, and dance with joy to be with you again.  Our plan is to arrive in Seattle the first week of June, celebrate the birth of my niece and my nephew-in-friend, and settle in a bit before heading to Colorado for a weeklong debriefing at the same campus that provided us with 5 weeks of preparation before coming here. It is exciting and nerve-wracking and wonderful and sad and every other emotion too.  There is a grieving and a celebrating that is happening in our home right now as we prepare for the change of seasons.

We wondered about what we will miss the most down here and made a list of things that is far from all inclusive and in no specific order:
1.    Two hours together at lunch every day.
2.    Warm weather year round.
3.    A relationally centered culture that knows how to tell a good story.
4.    The joy of simple living.
5.    The romance of adventure.
6.    Our dear companions that have loved us and protected us and brought us into their community.
7.    The beautiful children who have come to believe that there is a bigness of life that awaits them.

We are so looking forward to sharing with you in the months and years ahead, all that has happened to us.  For now though, as we transition we’d like to ask you to pray about a few specific things:
1.    Pray for job opportunities.  Kelly has begun looking for an elementary school teaching position and I have begun applying for various community based leadership positions (such as with the YMCA, etc.)  Pray that God would already begin preparing our potential employers to receive us and that we would be sensitive to His leading.
2.    Transition and all of its details – housing, phone contracts, health insurance, living arrangements, etc.  More than the details though, pray that we would be aware of our emotions and that we would turn them over to God.
3.    That God would open a door for us to specifically apply our experiences from down here to life in Seattle.  That we would never forget the faces we have come to love or the lessons that we have learned.

Kelly and I could not be more thankful for the financial support that you have given that has allowed us to have this unique and wonderful experience.  Each month we have this soul encouraging moment when we receive the statement of donations – it isn’t the dollars (though those are encouraging) – it’s seeing your names.  You can’t imagine what an amazing group of people you are.  We often find ourselves saying, “How did we get so blessed to have such Rockstars surrounding us?”  Thank you for your constant support.  To that end, we would like to ask you consider staying onboard with us through our transition.  COTN has approved our transition plan and is in support of us staying on support for a couple of months after returning to Seattle.  If you’re able and willing, we would like to ask you to continue your financial support through the end of September to help us make the transition back to the states and into full-time jobs.  As we do, we will keep you updated on our progress and let you know if our situation changes.

When we left Seattle, we left feeling blessed, excited and pretty nervous.  As we begin to leave Barahona, we again find ourselves feeling blessed, excited and pretty nervous.  But we have a God who is much bigger than our circumstances and we look forward with great anticipation to see how He will lead.  Stay tuned on our blog (www.skhampton.blogspot.com) for updates on our transition and we’ll see you soon!

 Blessed and Grateful,
M&K