Maybe it was the cup of coffee I drank at about nine o’clock tonight, or maybe it’s simply the fact that my mind has been racing for the past hour trying to find answers to questions I can’t understand. But whether it was the caffeine or the perplexing questions isn’t really the issue. The fact is, I am sitting at my computer at 3:18am, exhausted and unable to sleep. So in an attempt to appease my audience of one or two faithful readers, I decided to post an update.

I’m sure this is one of those things I’ll only get to say once in my life, but I recently figured out that in a span of thirty days, I visited five different countries on three different continents. I’ve been able to come home for as long as nine consecutive days at one point, and as little as nine hours at another. And even though I love the feeling of stepping off the plane in a new place that I have yet to know or understand, nothing beats the feeling of coming home.

When I flew in from Moldova a few weeks ago, you have no idea how good it felt to see five friends pile out of an SUV at the terminal to welcome me back. And even though I’d been traveling for 25 consecutive hours, spending another three sitting around my dining room table drinking pomegranate juice with them was exactly what I needed. Truth be told, the friends I’ve made in south Florida have become sort of like family to me. There’s just something about spending time with a group people that share a common bond, and here in south Florida, my friends and I share the bond of our faith.

One of the most poignant memories I hold of my time in Russia and Moldova is a moment much like that evening sitting around sipping pomegranate juice. Only instead of sipping juice, we sipped borsch, and instead of crowding around my dining room table, we crowded around a small kitchen table in a flat in Ivanovo, Russia. I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t understand most of what was said around the table that day, but I remember sitting there, surrounded by Russian-speaking Ukrainians thinking, "this feels just like Christmas dinner." You see, it wasn’t only the crisp air and the warm kitchen that reminded me of the holidays, it was the feeling that I was surrounded by family. It never ceases to amaze me the bond that forms between people who share a common faith. This bond surpasses the bounds of language and culture, and somehow allows me to experience a piece of home no matter where in the world I am.