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.
