Where do I start? There is so much to tell between the beginning and the end of this season’s story, but I’ll go ahead and give you the punchline…we arrived safely. There and back again. Better for the journey. And there were more invitations for adventure as we stepped out of customs on our home soil once again.

In our comings and goings after that, on a road trip in late June and in time spent with out-of-town family the first two weeks of July, I’ve imagined probably fifty different ways to tell you about our writing adventures in Geneva and eastern France. But, if I wait to pick the perfect way and perfect time to type it all out just right, the weeks of silence here will turn into months.

To be whisked out of the country for the first time in over a decade and gallivant all over the cobblestone of Geneva and St. Albain with my husband next to me, and to come upon the edge of the water or the chateau wall and catch our breath again, it was a gift beyond anything I could have imagined back in January as I planned out the upcoming year.

To have the chance to interview Coptic Orthodox priests who helped bring peace to Tahrir in the uprising of 2011, to jot down the amazing insights of a leader in Ukraine who envisions a world without orphans, to bring out the stories of a group of friends working with the poorest of the poor in Manila’s city dump, to get the inside story of a young woman who started her own fashion line in Rwanda and now employs over 100 locals because of the generous business people who empowered her with micro-financing and mentoring…all these encounters (thirty of them!) were the chocolate to the croissant, the extra richness that made the experience hard to put down.

I hope I can get my act together and make a few proper writing pieces out of my fifty-some thoughts on the whole experience, but for now, I reckon the pictures below and today’s guest post for my friend Trina will be a good appetizer.

Oh, and I can’t let you go without telling you that after all the months of disappointment and doubt from the downsizing, something happened. After a thrilling week in Europe, we landed back in the States to the sound of the phone buzzing with an offer we didn’t think was coming. This past week, my husband began his position as Senior Legal Associate for a world-renowned pharmaceutical company. The role is an amazing fit for him as he gets to use his law degree and his writing/editing skills as part of creative marketing teams that make decisions on everything from television commercials to social media posts. We are continuing to grow the literary agency and our own writing pursuits, and are so thankful for the multiple avenues we’ve been given for putting our passions and skills in action. Please pray for us as we sift through interview notes and continue research on our ghostwriting project, that God would use these books to further communicate His heart for justice and transformation for each family and community on the globe.

Remember back when I felt something telling me, “Strap on your helmet and saddle up, girl. This means adventure”? Well, I had no idea just how big of an adventure was ahead of me.

And maybe I still don’t.