Yes, today we are all thinking of home. It has been a great cruise but our hearts and minds are already home. We’re cruising toward Greenwich right now through heavy weather. We plan to get out and walk to the Naval Museum but who knows. We have to pack up this morning because the suitcases must be out tonight and we must be out before dawn tomorrow. Tonight we plan to have one last dinner with many of our dear friends.

Yesterday I visited with my friend who had the accident and she is doing well. She was blessed to get to the hospital quickly and have an excellent surgeon fix her up with thirty stitches. I talked with another friend at breakfast just now who is taking the flight home at great risk to her health but she is resting peacefully in God’s will for her life. Other friends are going home to complicated family situations that need their wise decision making. Life is certainly going to change for all of us once we get off of the ship. We have been pampered here! Real life awaits!

Our trip has taken us to places where we tried to imagine living; “What would I be doing if I had been born here? Would I have been able to think outside of that box?” It has taken us to places where the people seem happy with the little that they have and we have wondered if they really are happy and/or if maybe it’s easier to be happy when there’s no expectation of having more. We have wondered about the attitudes of people in the socialist countries; do they actually understand what they’re saying when they say things are “free”? We’ve wondered at how people can even stay alive when we saw the filth that surrounds them in many places and then wondered, since they clearly were alive and looked healthy, if maybe we protect ourselves from too much. We’ve been depressed at the bondage of Hinduism, especially in Bali, and of Islam, especially for the women, and it has spurred many of us to more prayer for God’s intervention for these people. The masses of people have overwhelmed us with their needs. The variety of religions and cultures has given us a lot to think about on many levels. We have had an education and it has changed us.

Thank you for following along on our journey and for your comments. Without them I might have given up on posting. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at home in the USA soon!