So....Africa?

Just in case there are still some people who are unsure as to whether I made it safely back from Africa or not, no need to worry; I did make it back to the states. Africa was absolutely amazing! I wish I could have blogged while I was there, but I was actually only able to access the internet 3 times the entire duration of my trip. However, I did make myself journal every day, and I am so glad I did! God taught me so many things and changed me in so many ways this summer, and I was able to put my thoughts and the feelings of my journey into writing so I will always be able to look back and remember exactly what He showed me. I have so many stories, but I don't even know where to begin. Well, I'll start with this: I made 2 different lists on the last few pages of my journal. My first list consists of "Things only seen or done in Ghana!" When you travel for 28 hours straight, you have a lot of time to think about stuff like that... My other list, which I treasure deeply, consists of the 25 lessons God taught me while I was in Africa. So I'm going to share those lessons one at a time, and then I'll give a few items off the other list just for kicks (there are a lot of 'things only seen or done in Ghana').

The first thing I wrote down that God taught me was by far the most important and most meaningful. OK, I have to preface it with a little reminder of my personality before I went to Africa. If you know me well, you know that I am very Type A. I like to have things planned out at least 2 wks in advance; I have to know what the next day will look like before I go to bed at night. I am most comfortable when I have a set schedule and a routine. Yada yada yada.... In other words, I don't like stepping outside of my comfort zone. So, God sends me to Ghana where there is no schedule, everyone just goes with the flow, they have no sense of time, hygiene is overrated; we never knew what we were going to be doing from one minute to the next. After about 3 days in that culture, I truly questioned whether or not I could make it for 10 wks. To be completely honest, I had a really tough time getting acclimated to the culture the first few weeks I was there. There were times when all I wanted to do was hop on a plane and head back to the US, but when you're in the middle of the African 'bush', there's nowhere to escape but just deeper in the bush. I quickly realized that that was exactly where God wanted me. I was completely outside of my comfort zone the entire time I was in Africa, but because I was there, my heart was wide open to allow God to take it and mold it as He pleased. There was no one else to turn to. I couldn't leave; at first I couldn't talk to my teammates about it because I was the oldest person on the team and I thought I was the only one who felt so helpless (it didn't take too long to realize I wasn't the only one struggling); I couldn't really consult my mom; I couldn't call my friends; BUT, God was right there beside me, reaching out His hand. So, in that first week or so, I turned my summer completely over to Him, and I set all other distractions aside so I could become fully dependent upon Him. See, when we become so comfortable with our lives here on Earth - we have our set routines, our jobs, our families, our friends, and we just continue to go through the motions - we also become comfortable in our faith; and, when we are comfortable in our faith, we can't have an increasing desire to become more intimate with our Father, and our heart can't be fully open to the things He needs to teach us. However, when we put ourselves in situations outside of our comfort zone where we HAVE to be fully dependent upon God, that is when we are most vulnerable to spiritual growth and greater intimacy with Christ. That is where God calls us to be; that is where His hand is; that is where we can know what it means to wholeheartedly desire Him.

I was outside of my comfort zone for 10 weeks and it was during that time that my heart was fully open to the 25 major things God needed to reveal to me and He totally changed my life! Think back to the last time God taught you something crucial... How long did it take you to finally 'get it'? As I look back over the last decade of my life, I can recall some lessons God was trying to get me to learn for years. And, I don't even know if I could think of 25 different things God has taught me over the last 10 years. But this summer, in the middle of Africa, far away from home, WAAAAY outside my comfort zone, God was able to teach me in 10 WEEKS far more than I was open to learning in the past 10 YEARS! He is so persistent and compassionate despite our stubbornness and desire to be independent. So, with all that said - I want to live outside of my comfort zone; I want to put myself in situations where I have to become fully dependent upon my Savior; I want to fully desire a deeper intimacy with Him; I want to be changed daily....

If you're a song lyrics fanatic like myself, maybe this verse from the Casting Crowns song "Voice of Truth" will paint a better picture of the point I'm trying to convey: "Oh, what I would do to have the kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in and onto the crashing waves. To step out of my comfort zone, into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is, And He's holding out His hand..."

Lastly, 2 things only seen or done in Ghana:
1)Bucket showers - there's no running water so you take your bucket to the well outside, fill it up, grab a little scooper, go to the bathroom, and shower!
2)Pouring water into the back of a toilet to flush it - there's no running water so you get water from the well and fill up the back of the toilet with enough water to flush it. However, when you share 1 bathroom with 12 other people, you don't want to waste the well water, so we have this slogan...."if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down." Simple, right?