Tomorrow I leave for Franklin, Tennessee to meet with the
team and pack our ministry suitcases. The ministry suitcases will contain
snacks and supplies for VBS at the orphanage and purses stocked full with
travel size hygiene products for the women at the orphanages. Thank you to the generous donations from the
people at my mom’s work for their generous donations of hotel shampoos, soaps
and lotions. Also, one of my mom’s co-workers donated a huge bag of purses,
backpacks and lunch bags.
I have (almost) finished packing, my shots are up-to-date
and read up on the material we will need for VBS. The only thing I have not
done that I probably should do it prepare myself for the two and a half weeks I
will be away from my dearest love: Delilah.
Delilah in her favorite chair.
Delilah is my Boxer-hound mix who I have had for four years.
The longest I have been away from Delilah is half a semester and it wasn’t fun.
For my birthday my mom got a pillowcase with Delilah’s picture on it. That helped
with being way from her at college but it wasn’t the same. While I am in Uganda
I know that I will be too busy to miss Delilah. But as I think about leaving
her I realize that the relationship I have with Delilah is in a way parallel to
a relationship with God.
Delilah and I have been through a lot: happy days, lazy
days, sad days and days that you just don’t know how to describe them. Delilah is
my co-pilot, riding shotgun in my truck wherever the to-do list tells us to go.
She’s at the door when I leave without her and at the door when I return. I know
that no matter how mad I get at her, Delilah will still love me. When I feel
alone or nervous during a storm, I can whistle and Delilah will be there taking
up half my bed.
God and I have been through a lot: happy days when I praise
Him all day, lazy days when I just relax in His glory, sad days when I blame
Him for everything that happens and days that I don’t know how to describe
them, but God was there. God is my pilot, guiding me on the path He wants me to
take. If I veer off that path He gently, or bluntly, guides me back to His plan
for me. No matter how mad I get at Him, He still loves me and I know that it’s
wrong for me to get mad at Him. When I feel alone or nervous during a life, I can
call out, pray out, and He will be there filling me with His comfort.
I may be leaving Delilah for two and a half weeks, but I
will overflow with God as I witness His creation in the orphanages, villages and
places I will be visiting in Jinga. I know Delilah will be waiting for me when I
return, just as she has when I return from college. I know God is waiting for
me when I get to Africa, just as He has for me to realize how much I need Him
in preparing for this mission trip.
“For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope
and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
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