Enveloped In God's Promises: Trip to Guyana Part 1

Kristin and I returned home from Guyana late last night.  There is far more to share about our trip than one post can hold.  There is so much to process and I want to relate things well and in a way that is an encouragement to all who read.  So, I decided to write a series of shorter blogs that focus on just one part of our trip.

Before we left for our trip, I was feeling very anxious about everything, and had a particular fear about leaving my family.  Traveling such long distances always prompts questions of life and death----what if the plane crashes?  will the kids be ok?  will Glen be ok?  For whatever reason, I felt more unrest about leaving on this trip than I had on any previous trip.  Perhaps it was just the emotion surrounding the whole ordeal, knowing I would have to ultimately say "goodbye" to Afeefa, and also seeing my own family grieve when they said goodbye.

Wednesday morning before we left went quite quickly as the kids took their time to say goodbye, and I drove them school, then finished up with all that I needed to do here before I could leave.  Before I knew it, it was time to get going.  The very last thing I saw on my way out the door was a note from Joseph's kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kloostra, that read, "We are working on this verse.  It is God's promise to Jacob AND to us also."  The verse written below it was Genesis 28:15,  "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land."  Wow!  It was the very antidote to the anxiety I was feeling;  a word of hope, a promise from God Himself that everything would be fine.  It was a promise that I grasped and treasured as we set off.

Throughout our flight, things went so smoothly.  Afeefa literally slept or played nicely for nearly the entire flight.  What an answer to prayer!  As we were approaching South America, I began to feel overwhelmed again by feelings of anxiety about my own family back home, about having to bring closure  to what had been a very precious time with Afeefa in our lives.  Then, an amazing thing happened.  I looked out the window of the plane, marveling at the mountains and rain forests below when I saw something unlike anything I've ever seen before.  It was a complete circle rainbow, and right in the center of the rainbow you could see the shadow of our plane.  I rubbed my eyes and did a double take, and sure enough, I really was seeing a circular rainbow with us in the center.  I had Kristin look out at it, too, partly to see if I was really just imagining it, and partly because I knew it wasn't my imagination and I wanted Kristin to see it, too.  We both knew and sensed it was a message to us from God, that He had us totally surrounded, enveloped, encircled;  that He was before us, behind us, beside us, and indeed, within us.  He was assuring us that His Word is true, and His promises are sure, and we would never be alone.  And I thought once again of His promise to me from Genesis:  "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land."

Here we are, back home, safe and sound.  And Afeefa is back in the loving arms of her own family.  But she was on that plane with us, too, and that rainbow also was encircling her.  I pray and believe "He will be with Afeefa and will watch over her wherever she goes, and He will bring her back to this land."  I'm holding on to that promise for her, knowing that next year she will probably need to find a way to come back for testing, and not knowing as of yet how that will happen.  But God does know, and His promises are sure.

My only regret, as I sit here writing this, is that we did not take a picture of that amazing sight so that you could all see it, too.  If any of you is a good artist and would like to attempt to draw it for us, let me know.  I'll give you a more detailed description and you can have fun with it.    :)  If you could just close your eyes, and see yourself, wherever you are, whatever you are going through, in the center of God's Word and in the center of that rainbow, know that His promises are true, and you are not alone.