After returning for a second year to Lom, Allen Waller provides a second reflection - talking this time about overcoming expectations from one year to the next.

Large patches of black mold near my bed; a morning fist-fight inside a cafe; a kamikaze bird knocking out an engine during my flight. The connection, you ask? They are all memories from my second journey to Bulgaria.

I've often found the danger of returning to any place you enjoyed once before (be it a restaurant, a festival or even a mission trip destination) is that you will likely return with high expectations. More often than not, it's those same expectations that can get in the way of us approaching the situation with the same freshness we approached it the first time.

I think many in our group of 10 Americans, 3 Brits, and 2 Bulgarians had this problem - I will admit that a part of me did. In the end it took some self-reminding that our time in Bulgaria was not a holiday and then a mission trip, but a mission trip first and foremost.

Having read this much you may think that I regretted going back, but nothing could be farther from the truth. What I witnessed this year in a tiny orphanage in Lom was something that many who go on short-term mission trips rarely see: positive, visible change. I don't mean in the physical things (the building or living conditions - though they had also improved), but in the children. There was a new maturity in certain young people who one year ago were more of a hand-full than all the primary children combined. I met new orphans this year who were keen to join in with our group based on nothing more than what last year's children has said about us. There were even young people who literally despised us last year, and were even violent towards us, who greeted us this year with bright smiles and open arms.

I'm not egotistical enough to think that these incredible changes were solely on account of our group's efforts last year - God and time were a much larger factor I'm sure. However, there was some evidence of our impact, which came from the carers who tend to the children. We were moved to hear them admit how much the children valued our coming (and we're not the only group who does). They also confirmed that our group's educational games and 'come alongside the children' ethos has been far more long-lasting then the pricy gifts that past visitors had simply dropped off.

Sadly, I don't believe I can fully share the breadth of my impressions from this trip - which is too bad for you - but English words just can't do it. If you want somewhere to start though, take a look at the appreciative smiles on the children's faces - you'll see the impact I mean.