Traveling Mercies

My flights and travels were smooth overall. In fact, on every single flight there and back I didn't have anyone sitting next to me. I almost feel bad about that being so small and all. But, hey, I'll take it. My watch had broken before my trip and my phone was not representing the correct time. Plus, there is the whole jet lag issue. I remember going to bed around 8 p.m. not too concerned about waking up early. Well. When a loud noise woke me up I figured it might be close to morning. Even though I had asked for a wake up call, I was a bit paranoid. So, I called the front desk to ask, "excuse me, what time is it?" It is 1200, madame." What?!?! I was thinking it might be 5 a.m. I don't think I fell back asleep, maybe an hour? That was too bad. Besides having to pay for a bag without notice and African communication = me walking back and forth, back and forth, and almost missing my flight in South Africa, travels were super smooth. Julie picked me up from Livingstone looking super cute in a polka dot skirt, a cute necklace, and matching shoes. It was so good to see her!!

Ready, Set, Go!

The week prior to departure was a busy one with at least one major trial which happened to involve my malaria medication. I won't go into detail but the persons involved in providing my medication were not doing their job. I was almost in tears on my way to work that Friday out of sheer helplessness. Saturday I was mostly excited... until that night. I started thinking the accomodations were much more scarce than they ended up being and honestly, that was overwhelming to me in addition to the whole trip. My thought process went something like... "What in the world am I doing? I can't believe I did this again..." I told the Lord in all seriousness, "I don't think I ever want to do this again." I just couldn't believe I was doing this. I went to the early service at church the next morning for a send off. Being with my church and getting prayed over helped a lot. Then, my mom drove all the way from Charleston just to take me to lunch and to the airport. She was so brave. That act was probably the most generous thing anyone has ever done for me. Plus, it was really special to spend some time with Mom before heading off. She prayed with me and then walked off. My sister called who was sitting with a handful of our friends in Charleston to pray with me. She asked if she could put me on speaker phone. I asked for her to give me a minute. I had to fight back tears. I think they were just tears of love and appreciation at this point. I was feeling more ready...