Time to unpack the suitcase

My trip to Mali has been officially cancelled. I will not be going this week. Me and Joanna set out first thing Monday morning to track down the Air Senegal office in town, and upon finding it we were told they did not have an outgoing flight to Bamako until Saturday....the day I was set to return.

So now I am unable to go.

Just, another hard example of how life in this part of the world functions so much differently than life in the West. It is incredibly frustrating at times to live in a part of the world where things like outgoing flights to other countries occur once a week. In the States, if your flight gets delayed or cancelled it's automatically re-booked by that airline for its next available flight which in most cases is that same day, or the next day at the latest. I mean, lets be real, if I back up to the beginning to the main cause of this problem, there would never even have been some crazy no-existent flight posted to begin with.

But not here.

First, they don't take the initiative to stop posting and booking flights that no longer exist, then they don't rebook you or offer to refund your money when you have purchased a ticket for that non-existent flight, and then, the earliest they can get you to your desired destination is seven days from your original planned departure.

Eyeyeye. There are times, many many times when life here just causes me to shake my head and wonder, "really? really?!"

A prime example of life on this continent....it just doesn't plain make sense sometimes.

So, I suppose it's time to unpack my suitcase.

I am disappointed. I was looking forward to spending some quality time with Kate and Joanna this week, planting my feet on another African country, and just having a little time away to recharge.

But, life is not always fair nor does it always turn out as we thought it would. And even though I'm disappointed, I'm resolved to choose thankfulness.

Spending this week in Burkina wasn't my first choice, but I must say, it's still turning out pretty good......

Already, I have seen the Lord's hand at work. I was able to connect Kate in Bamako with a newly arrived gal from the Embassy who mentioned to me via our correspondence last week, when I contacted her about meeting up during my trip and having dinner, that she had been praying about getting connected with some other Christians to fellowship and worship with upon moving to Bamako and now the two of them already have a few standing dates to connect. Praise! An answered prayer for friendships with fellow believers. I love how God answers prayers through unlikely means! And how we, sometimes completely unbeknownst to us, get to play a tiny role in bridging those God moments.

And, even though I don't get to be in Mali hanging with Kate, I do get to stay here and hang with Isaak, who took leave this whole week to stay home with the kids, and now me too. =) Isaak hasn't had any time off of work since we brought Steven home in April (actually since last October) so it's been nice having him home, just, to be here-to have more time to bond with Steven, spend time with the girls and me, sleep in a bit, not have to rush off in the mornings or rush back in the late evening for dinner. It's been good. He's enjoyed the down time.

Plus, in addition to being able to spend good quality time together as a family, we've had opportunities to spend time with friends everyday. Saturday night we had Joanna over for dinner and a movie. Monday night we had dinner at Joanna's house and played Catan. Tuesday night we had our crew of eleven people over for a breakfast dinner and Ticket to Ride game night. Wednesday, today, we moved slow in the morning, bought some groceries, Isaak made fried zucchini and pickles, Joanna came over for a few hours in the afternoon and we ended the evening with a family movie night topped off with Festival de Glace. Tomorrow we have some needed appointments in the a.m. but after lunch I have a shopping trip with my girlfriends planned at a local clothing market. And Friday us and everyone are headed to Loumila-Beach for the day.

So yeah...I'd say this week is shaping up to be just as memorable as the week I lost in Mali. It's different than what I originally expected, but is just as enjoyable and filled with goodness. Choosing thankfulness despite the change in plans. Choosing to have a grateful heart and focus on the blessings in front of me. I am over the moon thankful for the life the Lord has opened up to us here. He has just knocked our socks off in His provision and blessings.

A great final week of summer vacation.