Saturday, October 27, 2012

And The Journey Begins...

Wow, I cannot believe that a whole year has gone and passed since I first went to Africa last summer…Since I first stepped foot onto that piece of land that has had such an impact on me…on my life…and on my heart….And here I am again, sorting through donations, getting my shots and taking my malaria pills…and of course, trying to pack as much as I can into as many suitcases as possible!! I’ve prayed for so long to be blessed with the opportunity to go back and I’ve worked on preparing my heart—again—well, as much as it can be prepared. And now here I am…Saying good-bye to my nice, warm…comfortable home and ready to once again leave it behind for a few weeks while I step outside my comfort zone, ready to take in all that God has in store for me…ready for Him to use me…and in doing so giving Him all the glory. 




As I prepared my head and heart for this mission trip I spent a lot of time reading my devotional: Anticipate. This book is filled with great stories and prayers from others who have traveled the world and gone on mission trips with desires to change a life, change a heart, change a community and to change the world. All of the advice is wonderful and quite helpful, but as I read this book two specific themes played over and over in my mind…Peace and Patience. And, maybe these subjects weren’t even written about that often…but for some reason they just stuck with me and I felt as if I would need to be reminded of them throughout my trip.


So, I packed my suitcases into my car and I was headed towards the cities to stay with my sister Steph. I went to bed appreciating my comfortable sleeping arrangement but was so excited that I could hardly sleep. My flight didn’t leave until the following afternoon so I didn’t need to wake up early, but I knew from last years experience that I would absolutely appreciate having a full night of sleep and would enjoy waking up feeling refreshed and ready to go…Although it wasn’t quite that easy! What’s a girl to do when she’s just SO excited and ready to go?? … My phone beeped and I had received a text message from Caitlin…she was still up too! This made me laugh—we were both so excited and couldn’t sleep! Finally after making sure we had everything and were prepared for our trip, we said goodnight and that we would see each other tomorrow once we both landed in Washington, D.C. 

The time had come…Patrick was dropping me off at the airport and I actually found myself getting a little teary eyed. It wasn’t that I wasn’t excited for Africa—because I certainly was! I’m just not sure what it is about Patrick and airports but it just reminds me of him in the Army and brings back these sad emotions. However, as he helped check me in and helped me with my 3 LARGE suitcases that each weighed 50 pounds EXACT…and as I carried my 20 pound backpack and my other carry on…I realized that this was hopefully the last time I’d be going on a mission trip without him…and that hopefully next time he would be able to come with. Just that thought brought happiness to my heart…because I so deeply love these trips and all that I learn from these experiences and I know that he would too. 

I arrived to the airport early just to be sure I had plenty of time…I was waiting at my gate to hopefully start boarding soon and my departure time got pushed back 40 minutes…Okay I thought, that isn’t too bad…I should still have plenty of time in Chicago to make my connecting flight. Soon we were able to board and once we all got settled in on the plane, we ending up waiting again for another 45 minutes before we even took off. Thankfully we had landed safely in Chicago and although I was a little nervous I was going to miss my connecting flight I reminded myself that it would definitely be okay. Well, once I got to my gate I found that my flight had been delayed again…then soon my gate was changed….and it was delayed again. I was originally supposed to arrive to Washington, D.C. around 6pm…but by the time I actually left Chicago, I didn’t get to D.C. until 10pm that night. It wasn’t bad at all…I had a great attitude, made some new friends… and I reminded myself of that one key word…Patience. Yes, peace and patience. I hadn’t even left Chigaco yet and God was already teaching me about patience! 



Thankfully Visiting Orphans supplied each of our team members with the same “Go. Be. Love” t-shirt so as I traveled around the airport all by myself—along with ALL of my luggage, I looked for our V.O. shirts and before I knew it, I found a group of them! And, Caitlin was on her way to help me with my luggage. YES!!! This was it! Meeting the rest of the team members made me SO excited…I could hardly wait for all that God had in store for us…for our team…for the people of Africa…for the children at Fiwagoh…and for my heart. Oh Lord, you are SO good to me…thank you for calling me to Africa…thank you for our team…thank you for this opportunity.

You are called to be so much more. God has opened doors for you to go on this trip. He is calling you to grow in your faith, to become someone better than you are right now. He is opening your eyes to live differently than ever before. The challenge for you will be not just to know the right things to do but to put them into practice. And to do this, not just on your upcoming trip, but from now on.” 

Caitlin and I had so much to catch up on and we ended up staying up pretty late—only had a few hours to sleep before we had to get up and check out again. I remember laying in my bed having such a familiar feeling about this hotel…because not too long ago Shelby and I were in this same exact hotel…feeling so excited and also a little nervous with the uncertainty that trips sometimes hold…but yes, we were excited. And, now here I am…sharing a room with Caitlin and falling asleep with a heavy, grateful and excited heart. Morning was just a few hours away and soon we would be on our way…soon we would be boarding a long flight to the one place that for some reason, has always had my heart—even before last summer. Yes, soon…we would be landing in Africa…So, I thanked God again one more time and I rested my eyes…I needed as much sleep as I could get…

Because in the morning, my second journey to Africa begins.


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