Returning Home

As we drove away from Shikwaru Lodge in the van I couldn't help but wonder if I would ever return. I know that I would love to go back and bring my family along to see and experience all that I have.  This will have to be something to pray about and see what God has to say.  He certainly provided clear direction via various sources for this last trip.  I will have to trust His leading to see what He has for the future.  For now I will have to continue to serve Him at home as there are many needs there as well.  It is just a different mission field!

So our three hour drive back to Johannesburg was uneventful.  I tried to snap a few pictures as we flew by several interesting sights that we had previously passed in the dark on our way out.  Once we arrived in Johannesburg we stopped at what they call a 'curio'.  This was possibly the hugest souvenir shop I have ever seen!  I think there was an African kitchen sink that I could have purchased to bring back if I wanted to.  They partner with Shikwaru to help support their children's ministries as well. We spent about an hour and a half shopping to pickup whatever we wished for our families or friends back home.  It was actually fun to try and find just the right treasures.  I guess if I got the wrong size shirts I would just have to return them, so no pressure!

After everyone had a chance to purchase their special gifts we headed to the airport via a taxidermist shop.  Isn't that the way that you should always go to the airport?  It was fun to see some of the animals that were ready to be shipped to John and Kevin from their previous trip here over a year ago.  For each of us it gave us a chance to see first hand some of the work that would be done on our animals over the next year.  Fins and Fur Taxidermy does a great job of bringing back to life those animals that we were able to take while on our trip.  Here again is a great example of the partnerships that Shikwaru Lodge has created to help fellow christian business'.

Once at the airport we said some of the good byes to those who drove us.  Thank you Peter and Bonnie for driving us not only to the airport but to all of our service days and special outings.  Your faithful service did not go unnoticed!  After we all checked in, got through security, and found our gates, we all ended up sitting down in a restaurant for a final meal together.  Even though most of us were going to be on the same flight it was good to have one last chance to review our time in Africa together.  Plus the flight is so big with so many people that it can be difficult to see everyone even getting on and off.

As we sped down the runway I soaked in my last moments on African soil and then felt saddened as we left the ground so quickly and the lights of Johannesburg and Africa faded away.  Now began the longest night of my life.  Not because it was bad or anything but just literally!  When you are speeding along in the same direction as the sun  it makes the darkness last a long time.  It was dark for a couple hours before we left and still dark for about an hour when we arrived in Atlanta.  So that made for about 19 straight hours of darkness....weird!  It did make it much easier to get some rest on the flight.  I'm guessing I must have got about 8 hours of sleep on and off.  I had intentions of watching a couple movies to relax, but I must have been too relaxed because I never did see a whole movie on the flight.  I did manage to finish reading another book...another amazing feat for me!

Once in Atlanta we did manage to say good bye to the team members who were on our flight as we headed through the various checkpoints.  Because of travelling with Bows we needed to stop in at two additional security checks.  The longest on was the agricultural checkpoint.  This one pushed us so far behind that despite running approximately a kilometre after checking our bags we still missed our flight to Minneapolis.  It was a little frustrating as we did make it to the gate with about 5 minutes to spare but they had already boarded the flight and the doors were locked.  All that running for nothing?  Well actually we think that it did still help us.  The Delta staff checked into the next flight that was leaving and found three spots on it for us.  The best part of this was that it would still arrive in Minneapolis in time for us to catch the flight we had been originally booked on to Regina.  Really it just changed our longer layover to Atlanta rather than Minneapolis.  Making our connection in Minneapolis was easy since we were already through all the security that we needed to do.

In no time we could see the flatlands of Saskatchewan and I started to get excited about seeing my family.  Of course as Ardon walked through security at the customs check point to see Glenda, Rick and I were both redirected to secondary inspection.  It seemed almost as long as the 16 hour flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta that we had just been on when you know your family is just on the other side of the wall.  Finally a big hug from Terrace, Jaelyn and then Crystelle!  Plus a few happy tears from them of course.  It was also really nice to see my parents and my sister and her family (3 of 5 of them) there to welcome me home.

So happy to be home safe and able to share time together telling some of the stories from my time in Africa and catch up on all that happened here while I was away!  Thank you Lord for the opportunity to go serve in a different part of the world and help me to use it to serve you better here at home now.