Going out in weakness

And we're off!

After finally going to bed at 2:30 am, this morning started bright and early for me at 4:30 am. I'm still not really sure if it was hard to get out of bed due to my exhaustion or because it hit me that I wouldn't be back in it for 6 weeks. After showering, stuffing my face with 5 pieces of fresh watermelon, and saying a long goodbye to Tillie, we (meaning my dad) hauled all 10 suitcases to the car and we set off for the airport. I would like to take this moment to point out that only ONE of the ten suitcases is actually mine! One for Tim, one for Shane, and the remaining 7 are donations for the orphanage, school, etc. 

Shane, me, Tim, and all our luggage! We warned Shane I don't travel light!!

Two super cool things happened while we were at the airport checking in this morning.

The first is that despite American Airlines trying to make us pay for all 10 bags, they waived every single baggage fee... every. single. one. They even waived my oversized suitcase which they told us usually costs $200 to check! And not only this, but they checked our bags all the way to Monrovia rather than making us pick them up and recheck them in London (which they had originally said we would have to do).

The second really amazing thing that happened is still blowing my mind. About a week ago, my mom and I went to a local travel store in Palm Desert and asked if they had any suitcases they were donating for humanitarian purposes (this store often has people come in, purchase new suitcases, and then leave their old ones there. The store then turns around and gives them to people, like me, who go on trips to other countries and can't go out and buy suitcases just to leave in some foreign country). At first, the store told us they didn't have any, but one of the employees decided he would go back and double check for us. Amazingly, he found one suitcase that had just been dropped off! They gave it to us and we went on our way with the beige colored suitcase that looked as though someone threw-up wildflowers all over it.

Fast forward to this morning while I am standing at the check-in counter, surrounded by a mountain of bags when I heard a woman behind me excitedly talking to my dad. I turned around to hear her exclaiming that that was her suitcase that she had donated to the travel store last week! What are the chances that we would not only be at the airport at the same time as this woman, but also on the same flight and that she just happened to walk in just in time to see us plop her overpacked suitcase on the check-in scale!? Just a minute earlier or later and we wouldn't have met. God is so cool isn't He!? Not only did I get to thank this woman for unknowingly donating to my trip, but I got to tell her that her suitcase was being used to take school supplies, sports equipment, and lollipops to little kids in Africa! By the look on her face, I'm not sure who was more blessed by all this, her or I!

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As it's finally starting to hit me that all this is actually taking place and in a few short hours I will be back in Africa, a phrase that The Lord keeps speaking to me is,
     You are going out in your weakness
I'm not going to lie, at first thought of this I was stricken with panic. But as I kept listening, He reminded me that while we are in fact going out in our weaknesses, we are also going out in His strength. What better way to go!? The first part of 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." It is through our weaknesses that His glory is displayed all the more. By going out and serving in our weakness, uncomfortability, and insecurity, rather than with our strengths as we would like, we get to partake in the blessing of seeing God work in ways that is beyond ourselves. The second half of verse 9 and 10 go on to say, "therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sale, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

It's my prayer that through these next few weeks the Lord uses us not because of our strengths, our specialties, or what we're "good at" because we might try to take some of the credit for what He does. Rather, I'm praying that He chooses to use us through everything we are worst at so that at the end of every day we can look back and be blown away by the way the Lord chose to work through us and ultimately He can receive every ounce of the glory He deserves.

My best friend came to see me off, complete with a care package and all!