It all started when we landed on the tarmac in Nairobi. It was late at night and we had to deplane Casa Blanca style. Airport employees in bright yellow vests and military officials alike were armed with rifles. They greeted us kindly, but were urgent in directing us to the buses that would transport us to Customs.
Here is a photo I found on Google.
...and another which explains the heightened security and the urgency in getting us to the buses.
The fire happened a year ago and the terminal was still being rebuilt. It's possible that customs was the temporary location...which helps me feel better about the herded cattle feeling I had so late that night. (SO GLAD I didn't see the picture before the trip!!) Our driver later explained the extra security by simply saying "This is Kenya."
I felt so vulnerable. I knew that all of the danger was hours and hours away on the coast. We were going to the opposite side of Kenya and the only risk the State Department warned of was that of our time spent in Nairobi. I was grateful for the tone set by our team leader and the subsequent way we were sticking together and looking out for each other so well.
...let me back up to explain a little more about how vulnerable I felt.
Before we began the trip, I had been working around the clock in a frenzied attempt to finish things at school before leaving. I even got up at 4am the morning we left to finish packing so I could get to school at 6am to get more done. In the two previous nights before leaving, I had slept *maybe* a total of 7 hours.
Running to my car at 7:40 (10 minutes late), I was defeated. I didn't get done. My perfectionist heart was shredded. Sleep deprived already, I pulled in the parking lot our church home to join the team.
We gathered and prayed. I put a few items in my car that seemed extraneous.
...and when I saw a piece of encouragement that had fallen out of my bag to the floor of my car, I set my phone down to pick it up.
(-y'all know how addicted I am to my phone, right?)
The scripture on that leaf was EXACTLY what my anxious heart needed in order to begin to choose to rest. I love how Abba used His word to get me to "accidentally" leave my phone in the car.
We were almost to Charlotte when I realized I didn't have my phone.
*Gone was the temptation to run to my family friends before seeking help from the I AM who was already holding us.
*Gone was the distraction of recording every moment that was already being recorded by capable (and talented) teammates.
*Gone was my ability to tune out hard things by putting in my ear buds and escaping by listening to music.
*Gone was a security blanket that would certainly get in the way of fully experiencing everything Abba had planned for me.
....I'm sure you are thinking how it might have been a good thing that I mislaid my phone. I can assure you, I would not have agreed with you wholeheartedly. Intellectually? Yeah. I knew it was a good thing. It's just that in my heart, I felt stripped. Naked, and unprotected.
Which isn't a bad thing. :)
So, it all started the way it should have.
I was an open book.
From my journal:
#gratitude list
lightened my load
forgot my phone in the car
left work undone
...learning to trust
"caw-caw" "Rafiki"
blessing from Shannon who said she was excited to see how God was going to use my gifts on this trip
nausea and cold sweats each time we landed
that one sweet quiet moment in the airport in London
music shared by Popeye (PC&D Great I AM)(and subsequent phone fix)
gluten free dinner
At Heathrow Airport on the longest escalator ever.
First leg of the trip heading to Miami.
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