No Place Like Home

I’m on the plane, about to (finally!!!) land in Chicago, after an absolutely crazy extra week in Nairobi.  I’m SO grateful to finally be going home, especially after spending hours and hours waiting at what’s left of Nairobi’s airport, only to take all my bags back to the hotel at 1am, still not knowing when I would go home… to when I finally heard my name called last night, and I just about had a heart attack I freaked out so much and everyone was starring at me because I was sliding on the floor running to get my stuff and go to the ticket counter to get my ticket home…  It’s been quite an adventure, to say the least!

The hardest part was the fact that, throughout the last week, we always had to be doing things to figure out how to get home.  We had to wait around, move from hotel to hotel, constantly repack our luggage quickly only to wait for a ride, visit the British Airways office, sit on hold on the phone for hours, stand at the airport for hours, and so on.  It was boring and stressful, there was nothing we could do but wait, and everything was completely out of our control.

But, all that was really a huge answered prayer.  Throughout the last month, I have spent a ton of time amazed at the Kenyans for how strong their faith is and how all the ones I have gotten to know truly rely on God for everything in their lives.  I never really knew what it felt like to have to completely and fully rely on God for everything, because I have always been able to meet my own needs.  I got to learn a HUGE lesson in trust with all the waiting and not knowing what the future held this last week—I usually like to be in control of everything, but there was nothing I could do.  I had no idea when and how I would get home; I just had to trust God and wait on Him, just like many of the Kenyans I have gotten to know do on a daily basis and is such a big part of their life stories.

We did get to spend one day volunteering at New Life Orphanage, which was amazing and very therapeutic considering our situation.  Plus it was so good to be able to help the nurses and love on the babies: They need so much love and human interaction.  (You can read my blog post about New Life the first time I went by clicking here!)

So it’s been an amazing adventure.  I’m so grateful for the time I have gotten to spend in Kenya, for how God moved, and that I finally get to go home and see my family for a bit before going to school.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to my trip financially and through prayers!!!!  God is doing great things in Kenya and in my life; I’m just so blessed to get to participate in his grand plan!