For the past year, I have been traveling with a ragtag group of strangers. During that time, I’ve laughed a lot, cried a bit, seen the world, experienced and shared Jesus, and made my non-biological family even bigger. I am so beyond grateful for the year, but there was always one part that I dreaded–saying goodbye and parting ways for some undetermined amount of time.
On Saturday, June 22 around 07:00, I said goodbye to my family and watched them walk through security to go back to America, but really to their families and homes. I refused to say goodbye but ended up giving about 20 hugs and crying a lot more than I had wanted. But, they, my family, will always be worth (at least) a few shed tears.
The best part was that I didn’t have to say bye to all of them, because some of them were traveling on to other countries as well before they fly to America. Simply, I got a few extra hours to drink coffee, chat, and attempt to sleep in yet another airport with Mantha, Alexa, and Elle. Mantha was headed to Germany to meet her parents and have a little European adventure of their own before heading back. Alexa was off to Austria (and a few other countries) to meet her brother to have their own European sibling adventure. And, Elle was heading to Italy to have a solo adventure all over before hopping back on a plane. I, on the other hand, was headed back to the only country I’ve ever visited and never wanted to leave after about three days (Croatia).
Before I continue with this story, the enemy is an absolute butt.
I got on my first plane to Serbia and a thought popped into my head: what if I can’t get into Croatia? I ignored that thought and kept reading my book. When I landed and was waiting for my next flight, the enemy had a field day in my head. I was getting anxious, on the verge of a meltdown, and had access to wifi. Seemingly irrelevant information, right? But, because I had wifi I could reach out to people that know me well, are fierce prayer warriors, and could stand beside me at this moment. I’m so glad that the Church doesn’t have walls or limits or borders, but is fluid, around the world, and can point you back to the Good News when your flesh and/or the enemy distract you from the depth of His great Truth.
I got on my plane, no problem. Got a window seat (my favourite). And, kept reading, in the hopes of calming down. I finished my book so I got to stare out the window and just sit in awe of the fact that everything (from that plane ride to my kindergarten graduation) was because of the Lord’s sovereignty. There is something really captivating about literally flying through the clouds and watching water freeze on the wings and windows of a plane. But, my favorite moment up in the air was seeing lightning up close. Not once or twice, but three times. The first time, it was really cool. The second time, it got my attention. But, the third time, I was reminded that lightning can be an indicator of a thunderstorm which commonly has rain.
Quick side note: In our first month, our host asked us to pray for rain because the Dominican Republic had been experiencing a draught for longer than I now remember. So, my squad prayed for rain a lot. The rains came, and came, and came, and then followed us to every single country we went after without fail.
We experienced some turbulence and landing without any problems. I got through border control, customs, and baggage claim in record World Race time. And, I exiting the airport (once again, the enemy is an absolute butt) and looked at the wet ground and the sun peeking from behind some dark storm clouds. I met my Month 12 hosts (my friends that are housing me while I am in Croatia).
As we were driving to my housing site, one of them said “Welcome Home.”
