I leave today (it’s 1:43 am) and instead of thinking about the impending goodbyes, I’m busy obsessing over what to pack. For the last week, I’ve spent hours on the cold floor, packing, unpacking and repacking. When I put my backpack on the scale it brings back feelings of the terrifying once a year grade school weigh in, only this time my bag is heaver than everyone else.
My teammates and I have a blog going where we all talk about how much our bag weighs. I haven’t posted for fear of the comments my teammates would make about my overweight bag. Most people have about a 40 lb. bag and 10 lb. day pack. On my first trip to the scale my large pack was 56 lbs and my day pack was 30 lbs. I felt like a wrestler who had to cut weight.
My packing obsession is insane! Who really needs hair gel, saloon style shampoo, 5 different kinds of scented lotion, hair die, perfume, hair power, and scarves for bad hair days. Just a quick justification, the die is not because I’m fixated on the fact that I’m going grey at 25, it’s because I was told lice don’t like dyed hair. Even if that’s not true it’s a good excuse to bring more hair product. While my sister was helping me pack and she told me, “Morgan, you have this obsession with your hair looking good while traveling. You need to face reality and realize that it’s going to look gross most of the time.” If there was a support group called over packers Anonymous, I would be a prime candidate!
Given my luggage history, it’s a surprise I’m like this. Only 40% of the time does my bag actually spit out on the conveyer belt like it’s supposed to. My first huge luggage loss was on a mission trip to Panama when I was in high school. I arrived in Florida for training and none of my stuff made it. I spent the two weeks before my parents could send me stuff, borrowing underwear, begging for a toothbrush and wearing clothing out of the missionary barrel, which was where all the old clothing was thrown.
After that there was a spring break mission trip to Mexico. I was flying from Spokane to Bend then riding with a group down through Arizona and across the border. I arrived safely in Bend but my poor bag decided to take a side trip to Seattle. Thankfully my personal belongings made it before our group had to leave for Mexico but it was a very close call.
Then there was my trip to Uganda 4 years ago. My amazing baggage luck held over and British airways decided to strike. We touched down in Kampala with only the clothing on our backs and our carry-on luggage.
The amazing thing about this story is that I’m not even going into detail about all the times my luggage has resisted following me on domestic flights. The last time it happened I walked into the lost baggage area and said, “I was on the 10:10 flight from Portland to San Diego and my blue 52 suitcase was lost.” The guy behind the counter asked if I worked for the airline industry because of my plethora of suitcase knowledge.
As I was packing for my trip to Uganda one of my mentors Catherine asked me if I was ready for the trip. “Well,” I responded, “my bags are packed; I think I have everything I could possibly need.”
Catherine answered back in a tone full of love, “Morgan, I didn’t ask if your bags were ready, I asked if you were ready. What you need to bring on this trip has nothing to do with what’s in your suitcase. You could live with out all that. What matters is what you bring spiritually. Spend your time praying about the ministry you are about to do not worrying about what goes in your suitcase.” Well I’ve tried to take Catherine’s advice but have not totally succeeded. A lot of things in life are like packing the suitcase. I worry way too much about what’s extraneous and forget what’s actually important.
The adventure begins when I leave tonight (Saturday) at 6:30 pm. I can’t believe the long awaited departure date is here! Please pray that I bring what’s important on this mission trip, a heart full of love, lots of energy and a great attitude. I also wouldn’t mind prayers that my bag arrives with me this time!
