Thirty degrees difference in temperature. Clothes I’ve never worn before. New people to meet and places to visit. Visa applications. Government and healthcare coverage issues to sort out. Visiting Toronto General Hospital for Cliff’s medical check-up. Converting his driving license so he can drive in Uganda. Visiting pastors and churches and conducting talks and sharing about our journey. An exam for me to take. Catching up with friends and family before we set off for our next phase in life in tropical Africa.
As we lay to bed last night as I nursed a sore throat, I was momentarily overwhelmed by the amount of work and number of errands that lay before us, for this trip to Canada, back to Cliff’s home. While many may assume it to be a holiday for us, I began to grow sensitive to the term “re-entry stress”, a term used to describe the stress a missionary like Cliff might feel upon returning home for a compressed amount of time, after being away for a long while. It can be time of mixed emotions, and intense meet-ups.
But as I awoke in the morning, bleary-eyed, I saw a vision of a tidal wave. Suddenly, I was reminded, that to ride on a wave, we can choose to let go of our fears and enjoy the ride of our lives, or panic and be engulfed by the waters. Worse, we could be paralyzed by fear, and never venture out at all.
In the same way, as we journey with God towards this season of different time zones and mad packing, and transit into serving in Africa, we could choose to let go and enjoy the adventure of our lives, or constantly worry about how we would cope, and be overwhelmed.
Are you allowing God to bring you on an adventure?
Do you trust Him to protect you at the crest of the tidal wave or
is fear preventing you from even venturing out?
“Fear will keep you out,
but Faith will take you in.”
– Tommy Tenny
* Cliff and Wai Jia will be away in Canada for a month from tomorrow, 26 May 2014. They look forward to sharing more stories as they near their date of departing to Uganda on 17 June 2014.
His grace is sufficient for you, His power made perfect in weakness! But often we leave the next part off, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” The power of Christ is shown in the grace his gives to rejoice even in difficulties! May this truth be ever ringing in your hearts!
I do look forward to your visit to this side of the world!