The Expat Spirit

Hi Everyone,
It's been a while since I've written a post, but there's a very good reason for that! Things have been particularly busy since coming back to the States for a visit with my family. We've been on the go much of the time--running to Texas for a graduation party for my eldest daughter, Beka. She received her Bachelor's degree and is now heading off to grad school. We had a fun few days in Texas with her and our friends and family who live there. On the way back to New Mexico, my parents and I stopped to drop my youngest daughter, Samantha, off at her university. We made sure she was settled and had groceries, etc. before heading back to the Enchanted Circle. What a whirlwind these days have been! Along with this, I've been sick with allergies and asthma to the point I've had to resort to using the nebulizer, prednisone and other meds to try to recover. What a bummer (frustrating)! Even so, I've been able to have a wonderful and very good time here at home with my parents and friends.

There has been a lot going on beneath the surface of my life on this trip, too. My traveling here has been very cathartic on many levels. Being the reluctant expat that I am, it is nice to have the opportunity to "regroup" at home where people know and love me...and understand my Americaness. I am most fortunate to have parents who understand Europe from travels and times they have spent there, and who have dealt with many from all around the world in their business connections. My folks are not ignorant and are open-minded about other countries and cultures. On this trip, they have been allowing me to tell them about some of my experiences in the Czech Republic--things I would not want to write about here for they are of a too personal nature, not interesting for you readers, etc. I've had so many experiences in the past months which needed to be sorted out and put into perspective. This has been a time of insight, healing and gaining perspective for me...also learning more about myself...things I had not realized before...good and bad. These insights have brought some calm to my soul and will allow me to move forward into the next phase of my expat life. Where that will lead, no one knows...especially not me...but I'm very thankful to have had this time of renewal for my expat spirit.

Another aspect of this trip is that it has given me time to read! I am a voracious reader--devouring books of all kinds--everything from fiction to non-fiction, covering subjects from to the spiritual to astronomy and many in between. One of the most remarkable books on this trip has been one called "The Shack," by William Paul Young. Young presents the story of a father who loses his daughter only to find the Lord and a journey to healing and a better understanding of his own place in the realm of eternity. The story is not trite and pithy, but rather it is one of great spiritual depth. Young has crafted a story that deals with spirituality rather than religion. The author is a fan of some of the greatest spiritual writers: George McDonald, A. W. Tozer, C. S. Lewis, Khalil Gibran, and many others. These are also some of my favorite spiritual writers. You can find their influence all throughout the story--which reads like a wonderful narrative. I would highly recommend this book to you all...and you can find it in my Amazon store listed in the left side-bar and at the end of this post, as well as in the link here:


The next few days will be busy again with me trying to recover from this current allergy and asthma flare-up, hopefully managing some shopping for necessary items to take back to Prague, and have some more fun with my parents before heading back to the Czech Republic. I would like to apologize about the Rome pictures. This is still a work in progress due to the fact that my regular computer is waiting for me in Prague--and it has the program necessary to process the pictures! I will be working on those and will upload them to share with you all here once I'm back home.

One other note--would you still be interested in participating in World Blog Surf Day? Hospitalera and I were working on that when we both had things come up that needed our attention. I'm not sure if she would still like to be involved, but if enough of you are interested, I would love to hold WBSD again. My thinking is that it would probably have to wait until the middle of October, but it could still be put together by that time. And we could do another near the holidays--if you would like. Just let me know and we can go from there. The last two WBSD's were a lot of fun and very interesting--and I would love to do another--but only if there's enough interest. Please drop me an email or leave a comment if you would like to see WBSD be held again.

That's all for now...I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

God bless,
Sher :0)

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