After a really extended break from the blogging world, I’m back. The last time I wrote was May 8th. It’s hard to believe that 4 months have passed since I last wrote, so since a lot has happened since then, I thought I’d play catch up in this note…with at least what happened this summer.
On June 6 I left Dakar for the summer. It was a day full of mixed emotions – sadness over leaving (even if only for the summer), happiness over knowing I’d be seeing my family shortly, excitement over finally being commissioned as a Missionary Associate with the Assemblies of God, and nervousness over the busy summer awaiting me in the USA.
In my however many years of traveling, I have never had as many problems as I did on this day. Every flight was delayed. One flight was cancelled. One flight couldn’t be found. One flight didn’t have me confirmed (which made NO sense whatsoever). And the list could go on and on. After a lot of tears and a super nice Delta representative (the one nice person of my day), I did just barely make it home on the 6th though, finally seeing my parents at 11:57 p.m.
I spent 4 days with my parents before heading to Springfield, Missouri. We drove around the city, went to a museum in, and spent the night in Springfield. And on Sunday, June 13, I started my 2 week School of Missions with the Assemblies of God. I spent the next 11 days in Springfield learning valuable information to help me in this next area of my life. I met and made many friends. It was so great knowing that even though we would all eventually be scattered all over the world, we’d all be working toward a common goal – The Great Commission. And on Thursday, June 24, I received a certificate saying that I was now commissioned as a Missionary Associate with the Assemblies of God.
My parents and I drove back to their home the next day where I quickly washed clothes and repacked to go to Atlanta for the weekend. I arrived late Saturday night in Atlanta and was picked up by my aunt, uncle, and cousin who I was staying with that weekend. After a quick snack and chat, we headed to bed and got up the next morning for church. I went to their church with them that morning. And went to another church that night and shared my first itineration message. I was thoroughly blessed by this church’s pastor and congregation. It was such a nice way to start my first summer of itineration.
I flew back to Kansas the following Monday morning. Upon arrival in Wichita, I thanked God for such amazing flights that weekend. AirTran is an AMAZING airline and my airline of choice for domestic flights from now on. Since my dad was at youth camp for the week, I spent the week with my mom, shopping, swapping recipes, cooking, talking, and just enjoying our time together. My parents’ church had their annual Freedom Bash that Saturday, celebrating our country’s freedom.
On July 4th, I spoke at my parents’ church and was overwhelmed by the love and encouragement this church family showed me. Plus, I was finally able to meet the people that my parents had fallen in love with over the past few months. The following morning we left heading to Kids Camp where we spent the next week with about 500 or so kids having the times of their lives, learning about the best superhero of all, Jesus Christ. While at camp, I even had the honor of speaking to the kids one night about BGMC. On the last night of camp, I slipped and fell causing a large hematoma to rise on my knee and causing my whole knee to swell and turn a lovely shade of purple. Fearing what other damage might could’ve happened, and knowing my history with knee problems, we left thinking we’d make a trip to the emergency room. However, being the stubborn soul I am, I persuaded my parents to not worry so much and let me just keep my leg propped up with ice on my knee. That caused the swelling to go down quite a bit, so thankfully I didn’t have to make an ER visit.
That following Saturday, July 10, I left mega early and flew to Atlanta. My brother picked me up and drove me about 4 hours to my grandparents’ house where I quickly said my hellos and goodbyes, picked up my car, and left. After a quick trip to Wal-Mart and the Wendy’s drive-thru , I headed towards Florala, Alabama to begin 3 ½ weeks of non-stop travelling. I spent the next week in Florala and Andalusia, speaking at 3 different churches and catching up with friends from high school. The following Thursday I had a quick visit with another aunt, uncle, and cousin and then headed to Clanton to meet with our district’s missions director. After that I headed over to a supporting church’s VBS service where I got to share about BGMC and missions with a great group of kids. This pastor was my one of my pastors as a child. It was such a fun experience getting to go back now and meet up with him and his wife again.
I spent the next 3 weeks at my brother and sister-in-law’s apartment, while I travelled around the area speaking at different churches, visiting with family and friends, and catching up on good ol’ Southern cooking. I also bought a few things in AL (that I can’t get in KS) to take back to Dakar with me…like grits for example. My parents arrived the last weekend of the month and it was so nice spending time with our family of 5 (first time since Christmas) again. I got to have a mini birthday celebration with my brother and sister-in-law and then the following night my parents and I left heading back to Kansas.
I really enjoyed this trip back to Kansas with my parents. Sure the car broke down. Sure we had to wait a long time somewhere in Arkansas while 2 different mechanics worked on the car. Sure we had to drive the rest of the way back with a big, long piece of the side panel of the car rested on my mom’s and my shoulders. BUT, with all that said we were able to spend quality time talking and catching up on our lives now. It was really nice. Plus…when one has been in a third world country for a year with no American food available, any chance for a road trip with yummy fast food is AWESOME!
We got back to Kansas and I was able to spend my last week in the USA with my parents. I led my first Kids Crusade at their church, continued on with my self-proclaimed 10 Days of Elisabeth’s Birthday Celebration, went on a few last-minute shopping trips, and tackled the huge job of packing.
On August 5th, I left the USA not knowing when I’d be coming back. I would love to come back at Christmas, but I still do not know if that will be a good option for me, due to the cost of plane tickets and possible ministry opportunities. Plus, my entire (immediate) family will be together in KS over Spring Break, so that might be a possibility too. And I’m hoping to still have enough support raised to not have to come back and itinerate this summer and rather stay in Dakar, do all my teacher work at a more relaxed pace, and also find ministry opportunities to participate in outside of DA. We’ll see.
More blogs to come…
• My Hero
• 10 Days of Elisabeth’s Birthday
• Back in Dakar
• Back to School
• The Great Roach Incident
• Learning from Mosquitos
• First Grade
• Let’s Eat Y’all
• …and many more I’m sure.
