The Initial Approach

I got stuck in a holding pattern again today, but this time it was a real one. Groggy from a night of sleeping upright in seat 28F and suffering with dry-mouth from a Tylenol PM hangover, I listened as the pilot announced that there was too much traffic at London Heathrow to land, so we would begin circling. I didn’t mind circles because I wanted 25 more minutes to nap. Oddly, however, it seemed to me to be one of those moments when God captured my attention in a strangely normal, unusual way. I’ve been in what I’ve called my holding pattern for awhile now, and it was almost as if these circles about LHR were a little reminder for me of where I’ve been walking these past 6 months and a nudge from my pilot saying, “Get ready now Stephanie, we are making our initial approach into this new season.”

In preparation for embarking on my Sudan adventure, I’ve spent the last 2 days in Baltimore, being oriented to my new job at the World Relief Headquarters. In these 2 days of pre-flight preparations I learned that moving to Sudan is enough to make you bi-polar. One minute you are very excited and full of anticipation and the next minute wondering why in the world you would ever do such a thing. I caught myself asking God again why I can’t just be normal and settled and want to stay home where it could be easy and safe. He answered again in his usual, unusual way.

One morning I stopped at Starbucks on the way to the office. Minding my own business and drinking a latte in a big fluffy purple chair, I looked up to find an Asian man standing in front of me looking panicked. “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?” he asked.

I thought maybe he needed help ordering a cappuccino, but he quickly solved the mystery of his presence. “Could you look at a letter for me? My English is no good and I must send a very important letter.” He worked in the gift shop next store, and knowing how it feels to be linguistically helpless in a foreign tongue, I complied. The letter of course was written with nearly perfect grammar- the only mistake I found was in a sentence that seemed to be jumping out at me anyway, “Everything from the beginning is difficult and there is no gain without pain in this world.” I see a Korean gift shop worker, but I hear God’s still small voice telling me that it will all be alright although there will inevitably be growing pains.

So here I sit in the Terminal 4 Starbucks. A few more hours left in London to enjoy my last latte and then another long flight. Tonight I’m Khartoum bound. Crazy.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have begun our initial approach into this new season. Please make sure your seatbacks and tray tables are in their upright and locked position. We will be landing shortly.

Great ideas need landing gear as well as wings.
- C.D. Jackson