Starting the journey...

My mother convinced me to start blogging about my journey. I guess she wants to follow me when I return to Africa in December. Maybe it is a good idea... I know she'll miss me over Christmas (hehe) So where to start?
I'm new to this so you'll have to bare with me but I guess I'll start off by saying our God is the greatest God. I had the opprotunity to travel half way across the world with The Wesley Foundation at Mississippi State over the summer. We went to Ghana in West Africa and I immediately fell in love. From culture shocks to unconditional love I had for these children, I knew there was not enough time for me to be over there. I had to go back. When I returned to the States in June all I could think about were those kids over in the orphanage. We fell in love with them. Our group worked in a Methodist Orphanage called Rafiki. There were 18 children ages 2-7. Of course there were language barriers (especially for me since I am slow at grasping other languages... and much of everything, but God made it all work out) I am so happy he placed Rafiki on my heart. A day wouldn't go by when I would not think about those kids. What were they doing? Were they playing games? Were they smiling? Were they happy? Were they feeling the love and warmth that Clint, Adam, Derek, and Micah were giving them? (8 of us from Mississippi State went over the summer and 4 of us came back to the States early, 4 stayed all summer). I knew that these kids were alright with Clint, Adam, Derek, and Micah but I guess a selfish side of me popped out and I just really wanted to go back and be with them. After this I realized that I needed to do something, much greater go back.....and SOON! I was so happy when the 8 of us met up again a few weeks and had a reunion dinner at Old Waverly. (well all of us except Micah that is... sorry Micah, but you missed out!) Tim announced that he was working for us to go back in December! What great news that was! There are going to be two trips that we are planning... We will all leave for Ghana December 11th and some will get back to the States December 22nd. The other group will stay through Christmas and return to the States December 30th. I thought and prayed long and hard about this for about two weeks. I realized that when I went over the summer there was just simply not enough time, there was so much to do and so much to be taught that I had to go back for longer next time I would return.
Christmas is a huge deal in my family. My mom is one of seven brothers and sisters and December is the only time our whole family is able to come together during the year. We have a whole week before Christmas where there are many events planned and much to do. Don't get me wrong it is so much fun and I absolutely LOVE my family. But I know these children need me more than my family does. It will be hard being away from my family during the holidays but I need as much time as possible with the children. I think I may even need the kids more than they need me :) hehe.. They teach me what its like to be calm and not worry about what tomorrow will bring. And see, I am a bit of a worrier. I don't know why, but I worry a TON! I also get stressed about the littlest of things and angry over what seems to be nothing. With Gods help (of course) these children taught me there was more to life than being frightful, fearful, worried, and angry. There was never a second while I was there when I was worried, scared, fearful, or angry. Never a second. I was happy. I was so happy just to sit and be with these kids. How could they be so happy and not have half the "things" we have over in America?  It blew my mind. Our lives and houses and apartments are so consumed with "stuff" and we are unhappy. We argue, we gossip, we lie, we are selfish, we are angry, of course we are not perfect by any means but these kids over in Africa don't have half of the "stuff" (not even a quarter) we have. We are so obsessed with having the best of the best and our lives are consumed with "stuff". And we still have bitterness in our lives. How? These kids have next to nothing, but they do have the most important thing- God. And thats what we are continuing to teach them about. I want to be happy. I want to live less and give back more.
Thanks for listening....or reading :)