It’s hard to summarize how I feel about my trip to Ghana. God is up to things I can’t even really express. I am learning how much I need strong relationships in my life, and I’m wrestling with whether that is a weakness of mine, or a strength. I so need to be known and loved. I am seeing again my insecure heart. The Lord has been speaking to me about some deep heart issues, particularly about some injuries there that need to be addressed, brought to the light, grieved, and healed. Let it be, Lord. Let it be.

I’ve learned that it’s a joy to share the gospel. May it be that I take that new found joy and skill to America. That I could live unashamed of the gospel. I learned stuff doesn’t really matter much. After hearing Paul’s story of struggle just to go to school, I realized that my own fretting our our kids’ going to college has been misplaced. Paul’s words about seldom knowing when his next meal would come from jerked me from my complacent faith. Why do I am so small?

Holding an orphan awakened in me something I didn’t expect.

Watching my son fall in love with the people of Ghana and the beauty and power of Jesus Christ is perhaps the most priceless lesson. This trip was not about me. (Oh how well aware I am of my own insecure pride.) It was about enabling my son to pursue his dream. I came along for the ride. He is changed forever, and for that I am forever grateful. He is compassionate toward others and passionate toward Jesus Christ. He is not ashamed of the gospel. He shares Jesus with a sincere heart. He gets excited about God’s work. He has a heart to minister to those who have less. He wants to provide for people in Ghana in very specific ways. Watching him give away money was a treasure for me, one of those things I will store away in my heart. It thrills him to give his money away.

I learned about service, about taking the last place, about being faithful in little things. I learned once again that God is the God who sees the deep recesses of my heart and is big and strong enough to whisper my fears to others so that they could encourage me. I love that about Jesus. He can take our unspoken heartache and address it directly through another Christ-follower. God is good. All the time.

I gained greater respect for my friend Jeff who loves Ghana and is well-loved in Accra and the northern regions too. He is dear, and I can’t wait to debrief our adventure with him. Funny, but he and our team leader live within blocks of us.

Deuteronomy 8 keeps coming to me, but I’m not sure why. I’ll keep reading it until the meaning for me and my family becomes clear.

All in all, a life-changing, perspective-altering adventure. I can’t wait to go back to Ghana again. Lord willing.