O Christmas Tree

Amy and Leigh helped with the tree selection.

Our Christmas tree is up. For the last few years we have purchased our tree at Bottoms Christmas Tree Farm here in Cumming and that's where this year's tree came from as well. Dennis and Sandra Bottoms are so nice and helpful and they have great trees (shameless plug!). At any rate, we got a beautiful 8-foot Fraser Fir and had a fun morning out at their farm which is less than five miles from our house.

Obtaining and decorating the Jackson family tree is a big deal. We've always had live trees and each year we decide that particular year's tree is the best we've ever had. This year is no exception; our tree is spectacular.

Now that the tree is up and the house is decorated it's time to enjoy my favorite time of the year. That includes good football games to watch, Christmas Specials to watch on TV, and catching up with friends and family since I've been out of the loop for a while. Looking forward to every moment of it.

Thanksgiving 2010

I'm so glad Thanksgiving is here. I've been looking forward to this for a long time; I suppose because I knew when the big day arrived I'd be HOME! After all, Thanksgiving is all about home, isn't it?

I woke up this morning thinking about all the different things people would be doing today. There are so many great traditions. I have friends who run the half-marathon every year. Others enjoy the tradition of an early morning hunt before the big meal. Some folks decorate their Christmas tree. Others go to a movie Thanksgiving afternoon. Still others go from one set of in-laws to the other, eating big meals at both.

As I've thought about this afternoon (we're having thirteen family members to our house), I am anticipating some of the conversations that will be held. Things like…

"What time does the football game begin?" "Who is playing today?" "Wouldn't grandma have loved this dish?" "I am so glad you made your casserole!" "How was Africa?" "You sure have lost a lot of weight!" "I can't believe I ate so much." "My eyes were bigger than my stomach." "Where are we going to have Christmas this year?" "I'm ready for a nap now…." "You know why don't you? It's that chemical in the turkey…" etc…

I will love every bit of the day, and every bit of the food, and every hug and every smile. I hope you do too.

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

No Place Like Home

Dorothy got it right – there truly is “no place like home.” After being away from home for three months I touched down in Atlanta last night around 10pm and was home in my own house in Cumming before midnight. I had a great welcoming committee at the top of the stairs at the airport. I got some great hugs and then we drove home and Donna, Amy, Leigh, John and I looked at pictures and caught up with one another’s lives.

Home, of course, is not really a particular place as much as it is a state of mind. You can actually be thousands of miles away and still feel quite at home. Familiar sights, sounds and smells all contribute to the feeling of being home; but home is mostly about relationships and people.

Still, I’d be out of touch with reality if I said that being back in your old environment contributes nothing to the feeling of home; it does. Tonight as I sit here blurry-eyed and jet-lagged trying to write, let me just say that I have the greatest family in the whole world and am so thankful they were standing at the top of those stairs. Secondly, let me say that as I was traveling this way for over twenty four hours yesterday (including layovers). I found myself very glad that I'm an American; I not only have the best family – I live in the greatest nation on the planet (que Lee Greenwood singing here).

Anyhow – today was a day of rest after attending Cumming First Baptist (quite a difference from last Sunday’s worship experience at Kpene). This week will be spent with family, culminating with Thanksgiving on Thursday. In the meantime, I will continue to process my teaching experience and to reflect upon it.

God Bless You! 

One More Night

The tiny plane I flew on today.

It's Friday night and I find myself still in Ghana instead of boarding a Delta flight for home. I was supposed to fly out just after midnight tonight, but my flight was cancelled, so I go out in the morning instead. That means I arrive in Atlanta late Saturday night instead of in the morning.

My flight from Tamale was interesting. It was on a Beechcraft 1900 which only had 15 seats. It had a narrow center aisle and one seat on each side of the aisle. The cockpit was open and since I was on the fourth row I could see all the instruments and look out the front window over the pilot’s head. It really felt like flying and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Am I upset about one more night in Ghana? No! What’s another night after three months away from home? Yesterday when I learned I got bumped from my flight from Tamale to Accra I was a little frustrated, but today I’m okay with whatever happens. God gave me a real peace about things last night. Perhaps it was some kind of breakthrough.

At any rate, I’m in Accra tonight, in room 209 of the Airport View Hotel and I’ve had all afternoon to sun by the swimming pool and relax, which is pretty nice considering it is almost Thanksgiving. Tomorrow – God willing – I will see my family again; so who’s complaining? Not me!

Kudos to my second born for her great job early this morning working the phone and Internet to get me rescheduled on another flight. It’s great to have kids who are travel-savvy and competent in so many ways. Without Leigh I would be headed over to the airport tonight for a non-existent flight and would have been sorely disappointed.

I'm still reflecting on the overall experience of this trip. It was definitely a great experience. I'm praying God uses everything about it - even the travel irritations - to speed the arrival of his kingdom. USA here I come!!

Bitter Sweet

Today I had to bid my students at the Northern Ghana Baptist Theological Seminary farewell. I must admit it was a bitter sweet moment. Bitter because it is “good-bye for now,” I’m truly going to miss the guys; sweet because I know how much progress they’ve made in just three months and sweet because I’m going home.

The faculty and students gave me a lovely good-bye fete today. We worshipped together followed by speeches, wonderful prayers, refreshments, and gifts. I received a large framed certificate to hang on the wall, a Dagomba smock, two shirts, and even a dress for Donna which was presented to me on her behalf by the director’s wife who came to the ceremony just for that purpose. My backpack and motorbike were loaded down with trophies as I drove home, misty-eyed, to Seed Ministry for the last time today.

Lately I’ve had a string of things in my life that didn’t end like I pictured they would. I’m sure you know what I mean; the “happily-ever-after” glow when something is done and done well. Teaching over here has made up for a lot of disappointment for me. I’m proud of this work – I’m not boasting; God did it all and to Him be the glory – but doggone it, this one turned out good! I feel totally encouraged by what has transpired. I also feel grateful to my family who permitted me to be gone so long and thankful for all the ministry partners who were with me in spirit, financially and through their prayers. This couldn’t have happened without you guys. Thank-you!

Early tomorrow morning I board a 15-seat plane here in Tamale to begin the long journey home. I’d love your prayers as I travel. I’m not sure if I’ll get the opportunity to blog again before I leave Ghana (late tomorrow night), so until then – thanks again for your readership. I will be posting pictures when I get back to high speed internet. God bless!

Don’t Falter

A proverb has been in my mind a lot lately. It's Proverbs 24:10, which says, "If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength." In some ways this proverb seems to go against much of what the New Testament (especially) teaches about us being strong when we are weak, and the meek inheriting the earth, troubles being our friend, etc… The proverb seems to say something along the lines of "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." Odd how the Bible does that – it covers the entire range of human experience so well that there always seems to be something there for those who search its riches.

My teaching experience here in Africa has had its difficult moments – with sickness and discouragement cropping up. More than once I quoted this proverb to myself and was encouraged by it. Times of trial are the soil where strength and new life are born, grow and then bloom. All around the world right now different people are facing difficult challenges. The question before them is – will they falter, or will they become stronger and better because of the trouble facing them? Perhaps you are in that boat; if so, be encouraged, and know that God will not lay on you more than you can bear. What's more God has promised to make all things work together for good for his children.

Lord, grant us the faith we need to protect us from despair. Pour love into our hearts for you and for all people. And Lord, most especially in our times of trial, grant us hope. For without hope, no one can stand. Finally Lord, should our trials continue, help us to accept them as coming from your hand. Amen.

Kpene

This morning I preached at the village of Kpene (pronounced "Penny"). Rev. John Napadow, the director of the seminary where I have been teaching invited me to come and preach at this church, which Rev. John began under a tree many years ago. I really liked the village and the people in the church. Kpene is only a 20 minute drive from Tamale and we only had to ford one stream (always an adventure) in Rev. John’s car.

The service followed the tradition of most churches here. They have an “all ages” Sunday School class for an hour before the service where the pastor or caretaker of the church leads the people in a discussion of Scripture. I always enjoy that part, even though I only catch about every fifth or sixth word with my limited Dagbani.

After that the “emcee” gets up and starts the service by praying, or calling on someone to pray, and then one by one different people are called up to lead a song or prayer, followed by great singing and drumming and usually a little dancing. Kpene has no drums so they clap vigorously. They are also a little more reserved (and have less room) so there was no individual dancing, even though everyone was swaying as they sang and clapped. One man was playing a crude wooden instrument he obviously made that resembled a tambourine.

Finally I got the usual gushing introduction Silimiingas (white men – Europeans) always get over here. This one was especially profuse since Rev. John appreciates my coming to teach at the seminary. Then I preached and the people, including two completely naked children sitting on the front pew, were all very attentive. After the message Rev. John asked the people questions to see if they got what I was saying, and they remembered my sermon better than I did when I preached it.

The people of Kpene leaving the church building

One especially interesting thing about Kpene is that the chief died about two months ago. The village is in the process of selecting his successor and the church caretaker (similar to a pastor), a man named Zebulon, is the front-runner for the post. It would be wonderful to have a strong Christian as the village chief. At the close of the service Zebulon specifically asked me to pray for him that he would get to be the chief. And so I did. It will be interesting to keep up with that situation.

All in all it was a wonderful day of worship, and I am sad to say my last Sunday in Ghana for a while. As ready as I am to come home, I will miss people like those in the church and village of Kpene dearly.