Spirit of Love and Adventure

We start to climb into the big Sequoia, only to discover that we’re not all going to fit… “Autumn, can you drive the red car?,” John asks in a moment of desperation. Once we all pile inside and make sure the car’s actually going to work, we’re finally off… Late, as usual. Where are we going, you ask? Oh, you know, just to a four hour engagement ceremony…

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the engagement of two of our sweet staff members, Lydia and Nosa. Lydia lives with the Omorefe family and cooks us delicious dinners every night, and Nosa is John’s younger brother who works at the water house we have on-site. These two sweet souls are getting married at the end of the month, and I actually have the honor of being a bridesmaid! This whole wedding experience is certainly a cultural adventure for me.

Ghana wedding tradition is quite different from that of the States. Here, they use the presentation of a dowry to signify the official beginning of the engagement. The man must participate in a “knocking,” where he visits the home of the bride’s family and asks for a list of things to include in the dowry. After a few months of searching and bartering, the groom presents the dowry to the family in a ceremony that includes a lot of picture taking, offerings, fancy clothes, and formal presentations of both gifts and people. For Lydia and Nosa’s, we took a day trip to the mountains that beckon us from our view. The trip was beautiful, a landscape I hadn’t experienced yet in Ghana… The trees were lush, the forests thick, and the sights incredible once Autumn navigated the STEEP climb. I was thankful that Caty was in the country this week and was able to experience these sights with me.

Though the ceremony itself was particularly long and sweaty (and all the balloons started popping because they were too hot), I am thankful to have been able to experience this day. We took three cars of people to go witness the declaration of Nosa’s intent to marry Lydia, and it was so sweet to see them together. A few weeks ago, I went with Lydia to go try on her wedding dress… The usually stoic and reserved Lydia practically skipped out of the house we were at, cheering “That’s my wedding gown!!” I am excited to see where God leads these two together, and thankful that their timing allowed me to be a part of this beautiful progression of events.

How do I say “See you later?”

Today I cried. A lot. And I cried in front of our kids for the first time. As a big group of them clung to Auntie Holly’s every word as we called her for her birthday, I wept… I am scared of being on the other side of this equation, being one of the ones who has left with an indefinite return date. I know that perfect love casts out fear… But there are times when that fear doesn’t quite seem to be cast out.

 I am at the point where I have less than two months here… Boy that feels terrifying. I have shed tears multiple times over the idea of putting Gamali down for the last time… Tonight as I squeezed Florence’s hand, I wished I could be here to teach her to read forever, cultivating her passion for learning that is already so large… Instead, I will sponsor her education financially and leave her in the hands of another teacher who will hopefully love her as much as I do.

Talking to Holly after the kids went to bed didn’t help my case all that much… No more tears, but still some anxiety about what that transition will look like. She kept pointing out “I fell in love with all those kids and I still love them all so much, but I don’t know what to do with that.” What will I do with my overflowing love for some of them as I climb on a plane so soon? How do I deal with the fact that they have captured my heart in a way which is irreplaceable? Can I even fathom the idea of leaving Bismark here and knowing that he probably won’t get the services he needs? What about the regret I feel already for not being able to give Pamela what she needs? I am starting to try and process these thoughts and I don’t like anything that I come up with. I know that I adored my kindergarten students, and that I will have class upon class for years to come, but this feels different… This is different… And I’m not sure what to make of that yet.

What I do know is that no matter how much pain leaving may bring, the simple words of “I love you” from these kids makes anything I go through worth it. There are images and feelings I have from my time spent with these children that will never leave my memory, and there is a love that will never be broken. Thankfully, I know I will meet up with all these children in the future, even if it takes all of us partying it up in Heaven… What a huge, beautiful dance party with Jesus that will be!