Well, Hannah and I landed in Ohio a few weeks ago, now. Our visit to Portland, OR with Sam and Don was wonderful. We really enjoyed hiking, biking, eating organic and local, relaxing...drinking coffee, etc. And the bikes and public transit, not to mention all the nature...were wonderful! It was really nice. Thanks guys. We finally landed in Ohio on the 11th, and it's been non-stop ever since. We spent some time with family, visited GFC, and have generally been trying to readjusted to America and figure out our next steps ever since. It's all been a little dizzying.
For those who are interested, this is what we've come up with. For starters, we'd really like to get Hannah started in a masters program for speech pathology. She likes teaching middle school language arts and social studies, and she would take the right job if she saw it available, but in Ohio teachers are required to get a masters. Her thinking is that if she has to get a masters, she'd like to do her masters in speech pathology. So we've been getting her set-up to do that. She's looking at Kent State's program and thinking that's her best option. So, she's getting things lined up to begin her prerequisites at Kent, and she has been accepted to the university but will have to apply to that program specifically at a later date. In the meantime, she's looking at teaching-related jobs she could do now and through the summer.
For me (Adam), the journey of re-entry is a little different. After considering possible further education in counseling, I came to the conclusion that it might be too much to have both of us in graduate school at the same time. And besides, I'd still like to explore church ministry. Hannah's schooling desires had us thinking we'd like to land nearer to Cleveland or Akron. So, after lots of thought and prayer, I've been looking at associate minister positions in those areas (possibly related to youth ministry). I interviewed for one such position last week, and though it was truly an encouraging experience, nothing is set in stone at this point. I'm still discerning, and so are they. It's a bit of a challenging time for me, trying to discern God's direction and calling upon my life as it relates to church ministry. I covet your prayers for peace and direction.
The fact is, even after buying a car and cell phones we aren't much more "settled" today than we were the day we got off the plane. Our suitcases are unpacked but most of our things are still in boxes from 2 years ago. If we felt God directing us, we could go just about anywhere. That's both exciting and terrifying. We'd like to settle near family, long term (and more of our family are in northeast Ohio than anywhere else) but we're really pretty flexible at this point. So that's where we are with things. We're visiting with Hannah's parents for the foreseeable future, and waiting to see the first few things drop into place before moving on other things.
Furthermore, we're still getting used to being in America. It's an adjustment moving back from Japan. Somethings are surprisingly easy for us and other things surprise us by their difficulty. And of course, we miss our friends in Japan. We're thinking of and praying for you guys! Gambatte!
Well, this is enough for now.
