Can you have peace on a rollercoaster?
The week or 2 weeks before leaving to head back to the mission field was that…a peaceful rollercoaster.
One day you are excited about getting back to a routine and life that is adventurous, hard, and abnormal. And the next day you don’t want to leave the comforts, the family, the foods of home. Talk about whiplash.
I usually head back to Ghana after a home assignment immediately after New Years Day. But this year, my dad celebrated a big birthday on January 23rd and so I stayed a few weeks to join in the fun.
It was lovely to have time to decompress after a jolly Christmas. It was lovely to have below zero-degree weather and snow. It was lovely to just have a little bit more time with family and friends.
I went on a personal retreat for a few days and quieted myself with the Lord. God used that time to turn my focus back to Himself and Ghana. The time of sharing about Ghana and showing videos to those interested was now over. I loved talking about Ghana. I loved telling people what God has been doing. It was time to regroup, look to what is ahead and pray for what is to come.
I came back from that (about 10 days prior to departure) and again had peace that Ghana was the place for me. I never doubted it. It is just that America has a way of sucking you in. It makes you so comfortable and almost lethargic that I feel like I could just willy-nilly my way thru life. But no, God has called me.
I always ask Him why. I always tell Him he sure knows how to pick the weird ones. I always tell Him someone else can do it better.
So, those couple days before, I got thru my To-Do list. I said goodbyes. And can I just add that goodbyes never get easier! They should, don’t you think? But they do not. Hard times. But I still never lost that sense of peace.
I arrived in Ghana. There was about a 70-degree difference from what I left. I went from country life to arriving in Accra, a city of several million people. I went from heaters to air conditioning. I went from tap water to bottled water. I went from boots to flip flops. I went from peace to … peace. It never left.
(Ok…I did get worried about my luggage. I always freak out about my luggage. Weeks before traveling I am arranging and sorting what to bring and how to fit it. I never know what the scale is going to end up showing at the airport and I must fit as much as possible into that suitcase!! Stress. But it all worked out. Their scale was .4 lbs. off my scale. Phewwwwww!)
I had a week in Accra. A city of lots of traffic and things that never go the way you plan, but somehow, I finished all the necessary things in a week. A week where I felt like, “ok, back to this, I got it!” A week to see important people, like my best Ghana friend, Baaba. A week to do some shopping of things I cannot get in Tamale. A week to get on a different sleep schedule. A week to continue to prepare myself for arriving in Tamale.
Peace.
It followed me.
Well, maybe, I should say, I followed Him, The Prince of Peace.