It has been a little over two weeks since arriving in Togo. Mango is green and beautiful right now since it is the rainy season. Of course with the rain comes humidity. This Idaho girl doesn't like humidity. I can just add it to the list of things I need to adjust to. Let me tell you, the adjustment list is long! It is also overwhelming! While it is easy to get caught up in what seems to be the impossible, I recognize many of the ways that God has provided for me.
All of my luggage arrived safely and all of my flights went smoothly. God provided a travel buddy (a businessman from my church who just happened to be flying on the same flight as me!) from Boise to Brussels and there I met up with the Molsee and Niles families for the Brussels to Lome leg. God is good! God has also provided amazing teammates here in Mango. They are encouraging, sympathetic and very helpful. They feed me, listen to me when I cry, and make me laugh. Words cannot describe the community of missionaries that have formed in Mango.
Yet in all that good, I struggle most days with the thought of living here for the next year. It isn't even a year, only nine months! Some moments I want to jump on the next plane out of here and other times I get encouraged and think, "I can do it!". It is probably a good thing that it took over 24 hours of flying and another 9 hours of driving to get here, because that is a good deterrent for leaving. While I still have thoughts about heading home to the comfort and normal I have there, I have realized that I let fear take over my thoughts. Fear over the dark, the bugs, the heat, the market, the cooking, living by myself, etc. I was reminded of 2 Corinthians 12:9:
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
I don't mean for this post to sound all doom and gloom. God has led me to teach in Togo and He will not abandon me here! I rest in His power and know that His grace is sufficient for me.
