It has now been a little over two months since coming back from Kenya and I have had a bit of time to reflect on the trip. Those of you who follow my sister-in-law's blog will recognize some similarity in this post to one of hers. Deedee went on a mission trip with ABWE to Liberia during part of the time we were in Kenya and returned with thoughts that were comparable to my own.
Many have asked questions about the trip that are kind of hard to answer.
How was the trip?
Expected spiritual answer: Great! God did amazing things.
Actual answer: Challenging. Hard. Demanding. God did amazing things.
Was it life-changing?
Expected spiritual answer: Yes! I will never be the same. I can't wait to do it again!
Actual answer: Umm...Yes....It certainly does change me...I wonder if I can do it again? Repeatedly?
Will you go back?
Expected spiritual answer: Yes! I can't wait to do it again!
Actual answer: I don't know. It depends on where God leads us. I am not sure if repeated short-term trips are what we should do. The need is hard to ignore.
Are you glad to be home?
Expected spiritual answer: Yes! We are so fortunate here in the U.S.
Actual answer: I am glad not to worry about rinsing my toothbrush from the faucet. I am glad not to worry that the kids are going to get malaria or E. coli or visceral leishmaniasis or African trypanosomiasis or worms or ... I am glad to be back to Jittery Joe's and Chick-fil-A. I am glad to watch the Falcons and dismayed over the state of the Bulldogs. I am not glad to be back to all the unnecessary things that consume our time and energy. I am not glad to be back to worrying about people who make a fuss about driving 20 minutes in a warm car to come to the office to be seen when there are people who gladly travel for hours or days to get to a place where they can receive care. I am not glad to be back to battling insurance companies to pay for the services that they promised to provide to their customers who paid them in good faith. I am not glad to have what I have when there are so many who have nothing.
What's next?
Expected spiritual answer: I am looking for our next trip. I can't wait to do it again!
Actual answer: Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
I don't know what's next. I know that I have to get through the winter. I know I have to continue to provide customer satisfaction to people who think they should be able to walk into my office and be seen immediately, whether or not the child actually needs to be seen immediately. I know God has a purpose for me being here, in Athens, now, but I know my time is excessively consumed by my profession. I know Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness of Midian before returning to Egypt to lead Israel out of captivity. Is forty years in the wilderness part of God's plan for me or does he have something else for me to do sooner? I don't know what's next.
I know that God's plan does not always follow our logic. See my friend Lynn's blog for more on this. Logically, I should have gotten a job with my undergraduate degree in business. Logically, I never should have gone to medical school. Logically, we should have gone to a Spanish-speaking country in this hemisphere for a medical mission trip. Logically, we should have gone for a shorter time and not taken the kids with us, to protect them. Logically, God would condemn all of us who rejected or betrayed Him.
But that was not what God had in mind for us. He made a Way for us instead.
