When Friday morning came, one of the first things I did was sit down and make a massive list of all things left to do. It was downright scary! In retrospect, I should have prayed for our days to pass by slowly because it seemed as though the time on the clock just moved at a much faster rate than normal from that point forward. In talking with the nurse from Passport Health and trying to figure out the final prescription list, it came up that we had bought 100% Deet, and that nurse gave me a loud and resounding, "NO, that's toxic!" I guess that stuff is meant to be sprayed on the tent and clothing but shouldn't touch the skin.
We set out to do a few more errands, and before we knew it, our day was gone, and it was time for our date. It's a really good thing we had made this commitment long ago, or I'm not sure we would have had the wisdom to just stop and enjoy the evening together. Haley's friend Abbey was competing in the Miss Iowa Outstanding Teen pageant, so we spent the evening watching her take 5th place and were invited along with all her supporters to a pizza and pop party afterwards. Abbey has been such a tremendous support to Haley in the last few months, and we knew we didn't want to miss out on the event she has been working hard for for so long.
On the way to the pageant, I called Harris and tearfully explained my list, and he so lovingly agreed to rally the troops (a/k/a Heath and Keaton) and make me proud. The three of them spent their evening together accomplishing some yard and household tasks and just fended for themselves in a kitchen that needed some groceries. My sister-in-law Stephanie also always has my back, so the next phone call was to ask her if she would be willing to provide a couple of salads for Sunday's lunch, and in true Steph style, she served up three delicious ones PLUS some freshly baked cookies right out of the oven. I am so thankful for such a great support system!
By the time Haley and I got home and got started packing, it was 11:30 p.m., but we knew we had no choice but to start going through all the stuff that had been accumulating in her room. This is just some of it and doesn't include any of the clothes that still needed to be pulled out and packed!
We were shuffling about five different lists and started the process of putting together all the toiletry kind of stuff in as organized and compact version as possible. I can assure you -- much easier said than done. By the time we headed to bed a few hours later, we didn't feel as though we had accomplished much, but we had at least made a dent in the packing process.
Saturday morning came all too soon. Haley left for her last shift at the Y, and thankfully I sat down first thing to just get in the Word a bit and pray. Right after that I picked up the phone and called my mom, who had been asking what she could do to help, and she willingly agreed to help make some cookies for Sunday's party. My brother Jerry called to explain that their family couldn't come on Sunday but wondered if it was possible for them to come up that day for lunch instead. It about killed me to say no because I knew how much the visit would have meant to all of us, especially Haley, but Harris and Haley already had lunch plans, and I knew that we already had way more planned into our day than we could possibly get done. By the time we were finished talking, tears were falling, and I explained that the best thing they could do was just pray a lot for us.
My sister Sheila and then Steph both called, and with both of them I was able to share my frustrations and desperation, and I know they moved into serious prayer mode on my behalf. My emotions were overtaking me, and at one point I think Satan was just trying to convince me that Haley was not supposed to go. I had been looking at Haley's account and knew that she still needed $49 left to raise, which wasn't a huge deal, but it was just one more thing hanging over my head and one more expense that I figured we'd need to come up with if necessary. God has taught me many times over the years that He always provides. It may not always be as much as what we think we need or in our preferred timing, but when we choose to follow Him as our Lord and Savior, He promises to us His faithfulness, so I finally just had to stop myself and pray, "Lord, we have trusted you in this process for months, and we don't intend to stop now, but if you really want Haley to go, I could use a little extra dose of confirmation. If you could just take care of that little $49 detail, that would do it for me."
Probably 15 minutes later, my phone rang again, and it was a relative of mine who just wanted to call and find out who she could make a check out to because she still wanted to donate. When she told me that she wanted to give $50, I was totally speechless because I knew that would put us $1 over what we needed. One dollar! WOW!!! God proved His faithfulness one more time in a huge way for me, and through my tears I was able to share with her what a blessing that donation was. Not only that but a little more has trickled in since then which will help cover some of the out-of-pocket expenses that we've incurred as part of this adventure. God is so incredibly good!!! Stop and praise Him with me right now as you read this, please! Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!!!
The day moved on way too fast, and by 3 p.m. a choice had to be made. Harris and I were supposed to attend a wedding with Vance and Steph that evening, so either we needed to forego our plans, or else I needed to do some more delegating. Haley quickly stepped up to the plate and offered to tackle the grocery list, and Heath agreed to make a couple batches of cookies for the party. Keaton got in on helping wherever needed, and they all knew that they were on their own for supper and that Kelsey needed to be picked up after being gone to church camp for the last few days. God has blessed us with such great kids, and I am so thankful!
After we got home, Haley and I headed downstairs again for round two of packing, and Harris supervised from the bed for a while. My first task was to organize the prescriptions and all the different over-the-counter medications that we were advised to send along with her. Haley started by picking out all of her oldest but decent clothes and tried to figure out how we were going to make everything fit.
By 2:30 a.m. we knew we had to shut it down for the night and just get some sleep. We prayed over the situation and really had no idea how it was all going to come together, but we just knew it had to be done. She drifted off to sleep, and I came upstairs to double-check all the baggage restrictions that the airline imposes. Another prayer was answered when I discovered that her sleeping bag was just one inch short enough to be allowed as a "personal item" on the plane, which meant we could fill up her duffel bag/backpack as her carry-on. Praise the Lord again!
We had been debating over the decision to go to church that morning because we felt as though we had so much left to do and we were tired, but knowing that little detail put me a little more at ease, and four hours later I was awake and knew that no matter how tired we all were, we were going to church. Some tired and emotional tears were shed during the service, but afterwards Haley had a chance to grab a few hugs and well wishes, and then our senior pastor and his wife gathered a bunch of us and prayed over Haley before we left the building.
Some of our family members from Pella were coming for Haley's farewell party, so we had invited them to make their trip a little more worthwhile and join us for lunch. It was a nice opportunity for Haley to share some details of her trip with them, and we were able to just enjoy a couple hours before the real chaos began! Starting about 2:30, friends and family members started pouring through our doors, and for three solid hours, people came and loved on Haley. It was all fun and happy until the good-byes started occurring, and then a whole bunch of us gathered around her at one point to pray for her, and many tears were shed.
By 6:20 all our guests were gone, and we headed out for one last-minute errand. It's winter in Africa right now, and I wasn't 100% comfortable with the "winter coat" we were sending, but according to the salesperson, what we had already purchased in another store will be great. Feel free to pray that she stays warm because it doesn't look to me like it will be warm enough! Trusting, yet again . . .
{{Side note: We have so many fun pictures that I'd love to include right here, but I'm still trying to figure out how to make that happen!}}
While we were out, Harris and the kids did a miraculous job of cleaning up the house, and there were a few moments for us to enjoy just a little peace and quiet while Haley went to say more good-byes to a couple of friends. We had a little bit of extra excitement thrown into our day when Heath opened up the trash can in our garage and was a little unnerved when he saw this opossum looking at him! Yuck! We have no idea when or how that got in there!
For months I had envisioned all of us going out for a nice dinner together and having a nice final relaxing evening together as a family, but with everything going on, I decided instead to make one final meal that I knew Haley would enjoy here at home. Just as it was coming out of the oven a little before 10 p.m., Vance and Steph's family came over, per Haley's request, because she just needed one more round of hugs from them. One of her teachers stopped by with a hug and a little gift for her.
Finally at 11 o'clock, we made our final trek downstairs to pack. We didn't think it would take too terribly long because we knew we had everything pretty well organized and thought through at that point, but when we finally had everything assembled and put that bag on the scale, it weighed 73.6 pounds! Fear and panic set in, and the act of sacrificing really began! A 50-pound limit seemed like an unattainable goal, but we knew it had to be done.
Kelsey, bless her heart, was busy upstairs writing letters and putting together the 53+ letters that we had collected for Haley. We had secretly sent out a request to friends and family because we wanted Haley to have one thing to open each day while she was gone. This little collection was a bittersweet sight for Haley's eyes when we presented it to her, but we managed to squeeze it in. She's thinking she'll appreciate the love more than the rain poncho! We packed and repacked countless times, and finally at about 4 a.m., we got the suitcase to weigh in at like 49.6 pounds. Talk about really, really trusting now! We are taking comfort in the fact that she is going with a large group, and maybe what she has left at home and deemed not as important will be shared by someone else and vice versa. The little amount of clothing she took with no real promise of laundering capabilities is very scary, but I guess they will all just be smelly and dirty together.
We needed to leave for the airport at 5 a.m., so any hope of sleep for the three of us was gone. Haley took one last really nice shower complete with hot running water, soap, and shampoo, and the rest of us just left the house looking like we'd either had no sleep or had just rolled out of bed into the nearest available clothes. We carried a few things into the airport with us just in case our scale was off and we could add them back in, but when we put that suitcase on the scale at the airport, it was 50.5 pounds! One ounce more and we would have been forced to pay extra baggage fees every leg of her trip. She's been informed that she can't add a single ounce before she leaves Texas!
Three of her friends surprised her there with a big sign!
After giving final instructions and saying our final good-byes, they hung with us as we all watched her disappear into the line of people needing to get through security. Even though there was a look about her that was screaming, "What on earth am I doing here," there was a sense of peace about me because I KNOW that God has called her to this, and I KNOW that He will get us all through it. My heart is full of anticipation and wonder of what God will do in and through her in the next two months of her life. To God be the glory!
When we made her flight reservation back in January, we had chosen one with about a two-hour layover in Atlanta. That airport is huge, and with this being the first time of her flying solo, I felt really good about that choice. Shortly afterwards we received an email indicating that her flight had been changed. She was to leave an hour later in the morning, which was a cool surprise, but that cut her layover time to less than an hour. My prayer has been that her flight would change back to its original time frame or that she would not have to take the train to a different concourse to make her connecting flight. God must have known all along that we would need that extra hour for packing, and I'm thankful to report that not only did He provide a nice local frequent flyer gentleman to sit beside her who was able to give her some tips, but then the icing on the cake was her next flight was just three gates down from where she got off! Praise the Lord again!!!
She has arrived safely in Texas, and we've heard from her a handful of times, mostly through texting. Right before lights were to go out last night, she left us with the knowledge of how hot, buggy, and cramped it was where they are staying, but in her words, "But the Lord is here! Let's do this!!!"
Thank you so incredibly much to every single one of you who has supported her with your monetary gifts, kind words, hugs, time -- EVERYTHING!! She appreciates you ALL more than you know, and so do we! God bless you!
Our contact with her will be very limited once she leaves Texas on Wednesday afternoon. She'll have a 9-hour flight to Paris and then will be sitting in the Paris airport for 12 hours while her body will be telling her it's time to sleep. Then she'll get back on a plane for a 10-hour flight to South Africa where she will arrive at 5:30 a.m. on Friday morning. Talk about jet lag! We'll be posting as many updates to this blog as we can throughout the next two months. There are also a couple of Facebook groups (GE South Africa A 2010 and GE Zambia B 2010) that you are welcome to join and look at for pictures and updates. Her reps will be posting as much information as they possibly can.
You can also send her little messages of encouragement through www.globalexpeditions.com by clicking through these tabs: Trips ~ Summer Trips ~ Africa ~ South Africa. You'll then be prompted to enter a password, which I will happily give to anyone who asks for it. I just don't feel comfortable posting it on here. Once you've entered the password, you will see a place to send messages to a missionary. She won't be able to respond back to you, but it will mean so much to her to hear from you! She'll be in South Africa for the first half of her trip, and then once she moves on to Zambia, I'm sure the directions and password will change, so just contact me for a new one at that time.
God took a big chunk of our hearts away yesterday, but he's giving us someone new to love today! We'll be welcoming our French student, Charlene, who is due to arrive tonight at 5:30, so for the next month we'll be sharing those experiences with you as well! We are looking forward to sharing our family and the American culture with her.
The Lord is here too! Let's do this!!
We will certainly be praying for Miss Haley while she is serving our Lord in Africa! Praise the Lord for her willingness to follow His prompting and bringing her out of her comfort zone in such a HUGE way!!!
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