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| Joey dared me to post this picture (the puke bag is down between my legs). Don't ask me why he even took it! The 12 hour flight (right after the 5 1/2 hr flight) about did me in! Thursday was the longest day of my life (literally....it was 32 hrs long instead of 24)! Although it was nice to have safari right at the end of the trip after we brought closure with our kids, and ideally it was a fun way to wrap up our 5 weeks, butttt it was just way too much driving on a rickety bus on bumpy roads, with nowhere to rest your head, waking up at 4 and 5 a.m. too many days in a row, missing an enitre night of sleep, too much travelling on top of travelling, being sick, a sore tailbone, etc, etc. |
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| Jonas literally laid down right where he was standing and fell asleep in the middle of the filthy airport floor...having been awake for almost 24 hrs, he was dead to the world! We couldn't wake him up for anything. Anissa was too sick to hold him, Joey was dealing with all the carry-on luggage and passports, and Alea could barely stand up herself, so we just had to leave him there as we waited in line. Tears of joy, relief, saddness, exhaustion came pouring out as the airplane tires hit the runway at O'Hare yesterday afternoon. I was instantly hit with a flood of emotions. I was so grateful to God for seeing our family all the way to Africa and back, that none of us were injured or seriously ill (until me a the end), that we were home and I was actually going to sleep in my own bed that night, that we were able to have all the wonderful experiences that we had and meet all the amazing people we met.....their faces started flashing through my mind as the airplane struggled to slow. When the plane eventually came to a stop, I started crying even harder, thinking about everyone we left behind and how long it might be until we see their faces again, hug them, greet them, laugh with them. I pictured Jonas riding on Kato Joshua's shoulders and clinging to Kiweewa Christoper, sobbing with Isa & Zephaniah as they said goodbye. I visualized Brian's amazing smile and Jen answering me with her eyebrows (cultural response). I heard Kakande's loud distinct voice ringing in my head along with the loud sobs of my quiet Alea (who is NOT a cryer like her mother) as she said goodbye to all her African sisters. I worried about who was going to continue teaching Annette to read? I thought about the deaf boy I worked with and what would become of him? I thought about our jovial cooks at Raila School, Grace's loving/playful sisters, our quiet sweet housekeeper at the New Hope guest house who didn't know any English but loved to give hugs, Kato Joshua's lovely mother who treated us like her own. I visualized Jack sitting in his college classroom and the pride and honor he now carried with him. I felt my own pride at these amazing young men we call our African "kids" who display such Godly maturity and Christ-like character...I visualized Christopher looking so dapper standing up front interpreting the church service into Luganda and Joshua snuggling with the babies at the Baby House and slam-dunking the new NBA basketball we brought him. I visualized Rosemary showing us proudly around her garden and Susan's quiet sweet voice always softly singing or humming a praise song. I visualized Sandra's dark dirt bedroom and her serious, sullen face and how happy we were when we finally got her to smile! I could see Robinah and Rashida shyly waving at me from the school yard and Samuel chasing our van. I thought about the amazing team members we served with and had the privelge of getting to know...fellow Americans that we had to travel around the globe to meet on African soil and how God strategically had our paths cross. It was truly an honor to go on this trip, meet and work with so many incredible human beings. As our friends' (who just got back from serving 4 years in Indonesia) newsletter said: Why are good-byes called "good" when there's nothing good about them? They should be called horrible-byes or only-because-I-have-to-but-don't-want-to-byes or heart-wrenching-byes. Maybe that's why Kenyan's and Ugandan's both put so much emphasis on greetings....because greetings ARE good! In Ugandan culture they do the double cheeked hug (both sides) and in Kenya they do a special hand-shake along with a regular hug. I can still feel the warmth from the many loving hugs I received throughout our 5 weeks...sincere hugs, loving hugs, joyful hugs...hugs that made you feel like you were important and you mattered, like you were special and they truly cared about you and were happy to see you...every day as if they hadn't just seen you the day before! So, though the farewells were very painful, we look forward to again greeting our Kenyan and Ugandan loved ones! More pictures coming soon (now that we have high speed internet, steady electricty, and our own computer to work from).......... |
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