To Be Continued...

There’s no place like home…

Leaving Liberia was actually harder than I thought it would be, though. I was definitely excited to come home, but as time drew nearer to leaving, more and more of me was longing to stay. Part of it was because I didn’t want to leave the friends I had made there, but part of me also didn’t want to leave the lifestyle behind. Over there things seem much more simple and life moves at a slower pace. And I was worried about coming home. Not so much fearing that it would be difficult adapting back to the American lifestyle, but precisely because I was afraid of quickly falling back into the same old routine with Africa seeming only like a distant memory.

With the experience of living in Africa and returning home numerous times, Sister Raphael warned me that this can indeed happen soon after returning to America. The time spent over there can seem like a dream. Saying phrases like, “when I was in Africa…” can sound shocking even to yourself. And Rachel also warned in those situations to be easy on yourself. We may be tempted to feel that now, since we have had this experience, we should still strive to live the African lifestyle here in America, but under most circumstances that just isn’t realistic. We must do what we can, but aim smaller. Prayer is the best aid we can give anyway. We just have to continue saying yes to God. Mother Teresa even said that, “Every day you have to say yes. Total surrender! To be where He wants you to be…if God wants you to be in a palace, alright…accept to be in the palace.”

So on that note, I would like to ask for your continued prayers for Bob and I. That we may always carry with us these experiences that we have been blessed with, and allow them to continually transform and renew our lives. And I would also like to thank you all again for the prayers you have already offered us over the course of the summer. This is without a doubt what helped us make it through some of the tougher, darker moments of this mission. And not only the prayers, but the support and accountability it gave just knowing that you all were there beside us along every part of our journey.

I will miss everyone I met in Tubmanburg. Especially the priests I was fortunate to work alongside and learn from, and the young men that I was privileged to get to know over these past ten weeks. Not to mention Sister Raphael, Rachel, and Jackie who gave me a piece of home when I needed it the most.

Finally, thank you to Bishop Lynch and Catholic Relief Services, as well as both the Diocese of St. Petersburg and the Archdiocese of Monrovia, for making this experience become a reality for me. I can honestly say that this trip has changed my life, and I hope that I may be able to share my experiences with all of you sometime soon.

And even though this may be the end of this particular blog, I feel that it is really only the beginning. The beginning of a new chapter, a new mission. And wherever God may be calling us next, any of us, may we be willing to say yes and offer our total surrender to Him.

So until next time, may we meet each day in our prayers and in the Eucharist.

-Dan
written 08/18/11