Many of you have wondered and asked how my eye surgery went. Thankfully, it was a great experience - the surgery went well in a new hospital that was finished last year. The surgeon was excellent and I was very happy with the overall care I received. Having this kind of an experience in a foreign country is always an adventure just because things are often done differently than "at home". (In case you think me particularly brave, let me assure you I am not!!!) The great thing is that God is with us wherever we are and knows all the details of any situation.
My vision has improved since the surgery, but the final outcome won't be known until 4 months so I have one more appointment before searching for new glasses. There is also the strong likelihood that I will develop a cataract in that eye within the next year.
Before the eye issues came up, I had planned to come back to the US to visit my mom. Due to my hospitalization, I was able to change my ticket for no charge and actually arrived back in the US on June 21st. So I'm sitting at my mom's house and grateful for the opportunity to spend some time with her. She turned 93 in May and is experiencing some significant health issues so time is precious.
We were blessed with a visit from 2 Lakeville friends who I actually flew back with. It was wonderful to share Bulgaria with friends I had shared life with for almost 20 years. And they got to experience a lot - the beauty of the mountains, the rich culture and history, venturing around the city and great restaurants, wonderful people at our international fellowship, as well as a short power outage, a few days with no city hot water (we have a backup tank for showers) and my map program taking us on a logging road during one of our journeys!
Paul wasn't sure if he would be able to come back, but we found a reasonable ticket and he arrived in MSP today. He'll travel to Sioux Falls tomorrow and spend the rest of the week here with mom. Then we'll both head up to the cities until we go back to Bulgaria on July 10th. These plans kind of all came together and we currrently don't have specific plans for our time in MN. We do know we have a few "life details" we need to take care of, but aren't currently sure where we'll stay or how we'll get around. Neither Peter or Sarah is set up to have us stay with them the whole time, nor able to provide transport so we're open to options.
We may try to pull together a "get together" option as we did last year. We'll keep you posted if that happens. But also feel free to call us as we'd love to get together as we are able. My phone is still 602-315-4375 and Paul is 952-200-5781.
Blessings, Kathy
If you are interested in giving to our work in Bulgaria, and Paul's consulting in Africa and beyond, gifts can be given online at Global Horizons/Emmaus Assoc or mailed to Global Horizons, P.O. Box 856678, Minneapolis, MN 55485-6678. Please attach a note indicating Emmaus. Thank you!
