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There is simply too much to say.

If you have ever had someone pose a really deep question as you were pulling into the parking lot of your destination, then you understand the feeling.

Instead of attempting to sum up the entirety of my two-year experience in 1000 words or less, I am opting to take another route. I want to do a “Term in Review.” Certainly you are familiar with the Year in Review that many news and media outlets do at the end of each year, taking memorable moments and stories throughout the year and providing a summary of events.

Well, for the next two posts, I will walk back through some of my favorites. My goal is to provide a good cross section of my experiences here for the last two years. Week one of my Term in Review will be dedicated to the 5 posts I had the most fun writing. Some of these will be humorous (or at least they were intended to be) and some will outline interesting experiences I have had during the term.

Week two will be dedicated to lessons learned. I will share the 5 most impactful posts I have written. These will be experiences encountered or lessons that God has taught me through my time here in West Africa.

If you have ever wondered which posts were my favorites, this will be your chance to find out.

My hope is that you will have as much fun with this as I do. Even if you do not, it will give me the opportunity to review all of my thoughts for the last two years, at least the thoughts I was able to write down.A word on the future of this blog: I have had several people ask me if I plan on stopping the blog upon my return to the States. It is a logical question as the scope until now has been to discuss my time in Africa. However, my answer is no.

When I began this project, I thought I was shouting into the wind. I doubted anyone would really want to read what I had to write, but I felt, at the very least, it would be an avenue through which I could work out my feelings on all that God was teaching me here.

Then people started reading it, and I discovered how much I enjoyed it.

If writing this blog has taught me anything, it is that God does not intend for us to simply sit on the lessons he teaches us. Instead, we are to share all that God has given, so that others may experience his goodness. Because of this blog, I now have a stack of emails to attest to the importance of sharing.

I am certain that God will continue to teach me regardless of my location; therefore, I intend to share.

So, in short, the blog must go on!

In the coming weeks, expect to see a whole different blog. I (and a particularly web-savvy colleague) have been working for the last several weeks to completely redesign the site. It will have a brand new face and lots of improvements.

Stay tuned…