Thoughts on Leaving

I leave Ghana on Friday evening.

I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that the past 4 weeks have gone by so fast.

I can’t believe that I head back to college a week after I return back to the US.

Time has gone fast, way too fast and I’m trying to cherish and enjoy every moment I have left on this trip.

But I feel at peace about leaving. I know I will cry when I have to leave my Atonsu kids, and I will sob as the airplane is taking off from Accra to New York…but I am at peace. I know I am supposed to return to the US and tackle the massive task ahead of raising $50,000 to build the Education Center. I have been reassured time and time again that I should keep working towards finishing my undergrad degree. As of right now, I know I can’t move to Ghana just yet, even though my hearts wants to so so badly.

You know what my heart wants? My heart wants to buy a big house in Ghana with-

a huge front yard that little feet play on

a mango tree and tiny faces dripping with it’s sticky juice

colorful bedrooms filled with bunk beds

my bedroom covered with photos and maps and inspirational quotes

a garden of carrots, beans, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, and cabbage

a kitchen where nutritious and delicious meals are made and eaten

living room where movies are watched and laughs are endless

a room for studying to nourish the mind, and art to nourish the soul

I want to buy a house and make it a home. It’ll be a home where children grow, prosper, laugh, cry, feel safe, and most of all are showered with love.

I want to start an organization from the ground up, one that is grassroots and community focused. One that works with the children and for the children. I’m not exactly sure what this is yet, but the thoughts are growing daily and one day it will happen.

But I’m trying to focus on today, and tomorrow, and the next day.
I’m trying to enjoy every second of my last few days in Ghana.
I’m trying to lead with my heart, but not forget my head in the process.

At a meeting a few days ago about the Education Center, the executive director of Light for Children told me:
“One step at a time, Rebecca. You can’t run in all directions at once.”

I’m taking that advice to heart. One thing at a time. One semester at a time. One project at a time. One trip at a time. I am known for running in all directions at the same time (ask anyone who knows me), but as for the Education Center I need to relax, breathe, and remind myself that everything can’t happen at once.

Towards the end of every trip I have this really somber feeling. A feeling of complete happiness and complete sadness. I try not to let these feelings take over me and to enjoy every moment with the kids, but in the back of my mind I know that in a few days I’ll be getting on a plane to the US and thrown back into the fast paced life. I know the trip is coming to a close and I have to say “see you in 6 months” very soon.

“To those who stay put, the world is but an imaginary place. But to the movers, the makers, and the shakers, the world is all around them, an endless invitation”

“One day at a time–This is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering.
Happiness is a journey.”

“Our journey as human beings is not about following a pre-ordained path, but about creating that path. Life rarely makes any more sense when things are done “in order”. Life makes sense when we are centered in our hearts and we let go of resisting how our unique journey needs to unfold,
in its own beautifully unruly way.”