things I won't have

We returned home from our missions trip to Jamaica about midnight Saturday night and Sunday morning I awoke in my own soft, comfy bed in my own pretty bedroom and the humidity level was perfect. I wasn't in a tiny, sparse bedroom with a less than soft mattress surrounded with only the basic necessities. My shower at home is larger and I'm pretty sure when I turn on the faucet I'll have water, it will be just the right temperature and I won't have to brush my teeth with bottled water.

Sometimes we focus on what we leave behind when we go on a missions trip, but we also leave much behind when we come home. There are some things I just won't have here that I had on this trip. I won't get to open my windows at night and have the perfect sleeping temperature. I might still go to bed early, but I won't get to hear my dear friends joyfully visiting and laughing until bedtime sharing experiences and getting to know one another in different ways than at home. When the alarm rings I won't walk out my door onto the porch and see the beautiful Blue Mountains of Jamaica. I won't see coffee trees and monkey puzzle trees on the mountainside just outside my door or see the Caribbean ocean peeking between the mountain tops in the distance.

Here at home, I won't walk up to the kitchen to cook breakfast for my fellow workers with wonderful new friends or have my first cup of Blue Mountain coffee of the day on the verandah overlooking the hills and valleys of Content Gap. I won't share a good morning meal with my buds before a long hard work day or have devotions with them where the Spirit of the Lord is so very present. I won't get to share labor and laughter with my friends as we clean up after the meal or as we walk up or down just "one more" flight of steps.

I won't get to worship in the rearranged dining room on Sunday morning or Wednesday night and sing Jamaican worship songs with fun motions with the happy children of the City of Refuge or hear moving testimonies of what God is doing in the lives of the older children who want to preach or become the prime minister of their country. There won't be an intense session of intercessory prayer on Sunday night for the children's home on the mountain top overlooking the many lights of the city of Kingston.

There won't be lots of children laughing and playing with one another, running races, shouting cheers and playfully competing in Sports Day around here, and we won't share hot dogs and macaroni and cheese on the verandah after a long, hard playful morning. There won't be sleepy children walking up to the kitchen on Saturday morning in the new pjs we brought for them to get bread for their house for breakfast, and I won't get to play with my little girls or see their sweet smiles as we spend time together.

We won't be trying new Jamaican foods like pumpkin soup, oxtail beef stew, cho cho and carrots, and collaloo or having a freshly baked cake every day for dessert. We won't have to have water carried up the stairs to the kitchen in 5 gallon bottles and then heat it in big pots on the stove for cleaning up the kitchen. There won't be huge piles of pots, pans and dishes for us to wash, or women's laughter in the kitchen as we clean them up for the next meal.

We had an excellent trip. The Lord blessed us and our labor. No one got sick or injured, the much needed 1000' concrete driveway was completed, and, as happy as I am to be home with my family and familiar things, I will miss these new friends and the new experiences.

I love you all.

Suzanne