The best is yet to come

It's often easier to look back and long for what has been left behind than to muster up excitement for a future filled with many unknowns. I still remember crying on my last day of eighth grade, because I loved my middle school years so much, and simply couldn't imagine how life could get any better.

Don't worry, Middle School Kate, God's got this.

This thought is, of course, hilarious now. How little imagination I had for the good things that could be in store, in high school and beyond! After a good middle school experience, why was it so hard to believe that a mysterious future could exceed a what I had known in the past?

I have often thought about my middle school self in the last few months. 

This has been my longest break from blogging since I started with Mercy Ships, but it's been a hiatus from more than just writing.

In late July, I met up with a few Mercy Ships
friends for some hiking in Zion and Bryce
Canyon. It was a wonderful reunion!

As I shared in my previous post, the ship's return to Africa was rescheduled to January, 2022. At the time, I already was on track to hand off my Executive Assistant role in April. With the new delay, it became a lot harder to predict what my next steps with might look like.

Playing recreational soccer with new and old
friends was one of this summer's highlights!

It was at that point that I decided to take a big step back from all remote work, and prepared to spend a season outside of the Mercy Ships bubble.

Despite the unexpected turn this year took, this has been a truly good season--I had time to join in summer activities (like a recreational soccer league) that I wouldn't have had time to consider in years past, and make leisure plans with friends without wondering whether I would be able see them more than once! God used unexpected detours to create space to rest, and He brought seeds (the spiritual kind that had been spreading their roots the last 15 months) to blossom.

With that in mind, I have some news that I am excited to share!

A new role

A rainbow that appeared last week
while I was on a run.

I almost titled this post "I'm not going back to the ship" but decided that might be a little too dramatic! It's true, but I can also explain more fully...

After wrapping up my Executive Assistant work, it was time to do some job searching. I trusted that God would open the right doors, and eventually I accepted a position on what's known as the Country Engagement Team (CET). This means that my next role is not ship-based, which will be a big change after the previous 3 years of living and working on board the Africa Mercy.

Country Engagement refers to the process of building and maintaining relationships with Mercy Ships' past, present, and future host nations, to ensure that the joint efforts with the host governments are set up for success. My team is comprised of around 12 members, and for the next few months we will be doing advance work to prepare for the Africa Mercy to return to Dakar, Senegal in late January. My specific role will involve liaising with the port in Dakar as well as some other admin. 

A new departure date

The "first wave" of the CET arrived in in Dakar in late August. I am joining with the second wave, which means I will depart the US in mid-October, 2021. This arrangement will continue until sometime in February, 2022.

My whole experience with Mercy Ships until last year was as part of the ship community. When I left that community, I was already looking forward to the unknown date when I could get back on board, back in "my" cabin, and back to some familiar rhythms in that community. Now it is not clear if/when that will be happening, and it has been mental work to detach my expectations from returning to the ship and instead preparing to work on "the other side" of things.

Wherever I "land", it's important to me that I work at my role with all my heart, as though working for the Lord. My excitement for this next step may not be attached to any specifics, but it's growing, and there have been several "wow" moments in the last few months to help it along.

By a wonderful coincidence (oh, hi God!) in August, I ended up visiting the Mercy Ships base in Texas at the same time as my future Senegal Country Director, Daniel, and his wife Linda, who works with Medical Capacity Building. All three of us were so excited to sit down for coffee with teammates... in person!

A second moment happened just this week, when I saw an email notification that my arrival had been added to my team's calendar. Although many of my upcoming preparations revolve around leaving Minnesota, this is a good reminder that that October isn't just the month when I leave--it's also the month when I arrive back in Senegal! After all the twists and turns of LOA, this is something I've been anticipating with excitement since I returned home in 2020. As an administrative professional, is it really any surprise that a calendar update almost moved me to tears? HA.

There is still uncertainty, as there will probably always be this side of heaven, but the unknown future is in God's hands, and He is very worthy of our trust! The thought of my fourteen-year-old self shedding tears on the last day of middle school is now a laughable reminder that in all likelihood, the best is still yet to come.

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On another fun note, there is a whole British TV series dedicated to interviews with Mercy Ships patients, doctors, and other staff and volunteers on TBN UK. I've enjoyed watching a few episodes over the last year. Kudos to Mercy Ships UK on this project! Check it out here.