D and T in PNG: Thanksgiving

We are home and feeling full of thanksgiving for an amazing trip to the U.S.A. It really has been brilliant.

We will always remember (in no particular order):

Swing-dancing, listening to Blue Grass music, attending an auction, laughing A LOT, meeting new people all the time, swimming in a lake, dancing in the rain, writing on stones, reflecting, eating Southern food, discovering 'moose tracks' ice-cream, engine-off landings, autumn colours, flying down the longest runway in the world (together), seeing manatees and porpoises, meeting Mickey, driving in Dallas and L.A., the Blue Ridge mountains, going to a rodeo and seeing REAL cowboys, meeting up with old friends, going to an American football game, flying with an under-slung motorcycle, Moriah's smile, off-roading, tour guiding, singing new songs, e-mails, meeting Chuck Swindoll, experiencing constant hospitality, Egyptian Ratscrew (card game), the Bunn mobile, Josh's English accent, white-water rafting, sharing our story with 190 young men recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, arriving at church in the helicopter, learning to change a nappy, skype, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie, lying on a bed of nails, packing, contra-dancing, blue jelly/jello, Chimney Rock, flying across 4 states in the Helio, learning some Pidgin, aviation wives, Jeff's prayers, art galleries, sleeping in the hangar, Darcy's videos, seeing fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, eating scrapple, a few tears, new friends who touched our hearts, people thinking 'Duncan' is spelt 'Dunkin' (as in Doughnuts!), ordering blue shirts, getting THE helmet, flying in the mountains, seeing family, going out for breakfast, the satnav 'recalculating', Starbucks, Rodeo Drive, the PNG bugs' case, JAARS day, Missions at the Airport trip, the 'A' rock, meeting MKs, Jonathan's stories, 'jazz' in Charleston, Trudie's Minnie Mouse hairband, farkle, goodbyes, Crowell 3, doughnuts, the sound of crickets and the not so crystal lake.

We could go on and on, but there is something we havent mentioned - the reason we went to America was not to eat ice-cream or visit tourist sites. We went to prepare for the next step. We thought Duncan was going to learn jungle flying skills and Trudie would learn about missionary kids and how to serve them - we did those things, but something else happened too. God poured His love into our hearts through the words and actions of strangers. We saw Him work amazingly in our lives and in the lives of others around us. As our new friend, Carrie would say: God has really shown off and THAT is truly awesome.