Hey friends!
Just wanted to let you all know that I'm not going to Zambia.
Well, at least not today. Secretly, I wanted to brag on the incredible God that we have.
Essentially, I've spent the past 3 days moping, asking God for a way out. I was stressed out with all of the little things going on Zambia wise (BA strike, visa stuff, flying internationally solo, etc). It's pretty much been a wrestling match of wills this week; I'd ask God to give me a way out, and He'd ask me whose will I wanted done. Eish.
Begrudgingly, I went to the airport this evening, still asking God for some way out. I was overwhelmed with unknowns. We got up to the check out line just before the rush. In the middle of checking in, I received a text from Orbitz that told me my flight from GR to Chicago was canceled. Moments later, the woman who was helping me check in confirmed this. I turned to my mom with a smile on my face and said, "Flight canceled? Ok, let's go home."
But here's the cool part. This summer, my brother is also going to Rwanda. Originally, I thought he was leaving at the end of June; I found out yesterday that he's actually flying out on Friday. We pretty much had the exact same flight, but his was two days later.
So as we're at the check in desk and the woman, Nancy, informed us that the soonest I would be able to fly out would be tomorrow; I turned to my mom and asked if I could fly out Friday with Phil instead. I whipped out my phone; by the time I got a hold of him, Nancy had his flight information up. She switched my first flight to match his, then informed me that she couldn't change the next flight because it was through a different airline. As she said this, the computer started automatically changing my flights to tomorrow, switching my flight to London so that I flew the same airline as my brother. Nancy said, "Well, it the robot can do it, so can I" then switched my flight to match my brother's all the way from GR to London. Thus, I'm not longer flying solo until I get to Joburg, and I can handle the Joburg airport on my own. :-) But it gets better. I had (and still have) an 8 hour layover in London that I wasn't exactly looking forward to. My brother, who spent a semester studying in Ireland and knows Europe well, told me to venture out in the city instead of boring myself in the airport. I listened politely as he told me of the places that I should visit, but knew I wouldn't leave the airport; it simply wouldn't be smart or safe for me to venture out on my own. Now that I'm flying with him and he also has an 8 hour layover in London, we can explore the city together. Bonus brother time! I'm a fan. Tehe.
AND I no longer am flying British Airways from London to Joburg, which means the only place that I could get stuck is Joburg, which I'd be ok with. Tehe.
Plus, this gives an extra two days for my visa to come in (which I'm praying it does).
PLUS! So, originally I was going to be in Zambia for 32 days; the visa that I'd get would last 30 days, meaning I'd have to go through the process of renewing it for those last 2 days. Now, I'm only in Zambia for 30 days exactly, which means no need for an extension. Thank You Jesus!
Yeah, I'd say God's got a pretty good plan going on. :-)
Plus, it's been a sweet (though incredibly difficult) lesson on faith. So many times I've wanted to walk away, but God kept me going. I'm excited to see what He has in store for my future. :-)
AND I am FINALLY, FULLY excited to be in Zambia. I can't wait to hold those little ones close to me and fall in love with each and every one of them. Oh yeah, it's gonna hurt like no other when I have to leave, but that's the price of love. And quite frankly, it's worth it (I learned that in Haiti). If I can impact one of these little one's for the better, it's worth the heartache of leaving them.
So essentially, God is good. Always! Tehe.
5 comments:
Oh Sharon, what a thrill to read your story! Yes, this is exactly how God works, and he doesn't miss any detail. What a wonderful way to show His love for you and reassure you that you don't need to worry about ANYTHING if you're in His hand! You've been on my heart and I just sat down to write you a check tonight and then realized you might already have left! Do you have all the money you need? If not, can I get it to you before you really leave? Or would you rather it went through Crossroads or Central Wesleyan? I am so excited now to hear the stories you'll tell when you return, because you know God's timing is perfect and He obviously has a big purpose for you going to Zambia and going now!
Aw, Sharon! You have no idea how exciting it is to read this. Your life is an incredible encouragement and a great testimony to the power and plan of God, and I'm honored that I get the privilege of reading about it. I appreciate so much that you chose to share this. At one point within the last couple days, I felt like I really needed to pray for you and Zambia. I'm so glad this worked out. Isn't it just so incredibly, unfathomable amazing? We are so blessed to have a God who works like this, and I am so blessed to have a friend who is willing to have faith and seek his plan.
God is so good! thank goodness He is sovereign and loving!
GAA this makes me so incredibly happy. WA!
shaz! so cool to hear how God is working - his plan is perfect, as is his timing! so excited for you! can't wait to hear about it from you :) MUCH love :)
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