Delayed

We were supposed to leave early next week, but we're not. There are lots of reasons, and they are all great reasons, and the right reasons to not go at this time. But that doesn't always make it easier to wait. 

Unlike most of my fellow team mates who have been before, I have never been on a trip that has been delayed. One of them has had just about every trip she's been on delayed. But I haven't, and I still don't know what to think or how to process it. I keep looking at my fully packed suitcase. I open my fridge and am reminded by the lack of food that I'm supposed to be getting on a plane next week, but I'm not. I get texts and emails and words of encouragement from people and have to break it to them that we aren't going right now. And yet, it doesn't quite feel real. I feel stuck in limbo. But I'm not in limbo, I know what's happening, but I can't seem to move forward. 

And so I sit and look at the suitcase and wonder when I should unpack it. I have trips and other things before we leave that I will need to use it for, so the clothes can't just sit in it, they must be hung-up, put away, or returned. I think about the people I need to tell and how best to ask for prayer and support. I think about my wide open schedule next week, and I think about leaving town since I wasn't supposed to be here anyway.

But mostly I think about Afghanistan. I think about the women and children. I think about the staff.  I think about the stories that I will get to hear eventually. I think about the games that we will play. I think about the laughter and and joy that I will experience when I get to see that beautiful place and those wonderful people again. Even if I have to wait for it. And that makes the waiting a little easier.

Prayer requests: 

• Our team as we process through this delay. 
• The Afghan election process. That the recount would be finished, that it would all be calm and safe, and that whomever is elected is respected. 
• The staff of SOZO. They are amazing and always put our safety first.
• The Afghan people. They wake up every morning and go about their day. They take their kids to school, they go to work, they go to the market and do all the things we do, but they live in a world where safety isn't a thing and life could change in an instant. They are so brave.