Catalina and I have spent the last week at an MTW training called "Living in Grace." It's been a fantastic time of self-reflection, conviction, refreshment, and growth. At our first small group session, we were each asked what we wanted to get out of the week - what we needed most. That question triggered in me a quest to figure out how to achieve something I have longed for my whole life - feeling the presence of God. What better place to seek and find such a thing than at a retreat full of seasoned missionaries pouring their wisdom into us?

It may be surprising to those who have known me for some time - but expressing emotions is very difficult for me. I have no problem sharing very deep details from my life, but I do have a problem showing the emotions that accompany those details. I like for the content of my speech to remain detached from the content of my face. While part of this is just a preference for style and makes delivery of my dry humor much better, I'm sure there are some deep psychological issues that are behind this. Unfortunately, MTW's psychologist couldn't figure that out, as he told me "I've been doing this for a very long time, and you are the first person I've met who I can't read." Maybe I can be someone's dissertation one day.