For this thing I prayed…

It will come as no surprise to many who know me that I have experienced my fair share of COVID related anxiety during this prolonged season of global illness. A great deal of that anxiety has been rooted in the lack of control I had to protect my family, and the lack of ability I had to show up for them if they got sick. In December and January when COVID numbers peaked for both of our worlds, when the names of people who had suffered COVID changed from being names we knew of to names of people we knew, and when the things I was reading had me pretty convinced that if you stepped outside of your house in the US you were more likely to get COVID than not…my general prayer of protection changed to a specific prayer for reunion. I started praying specifically and frequently that God would allow the four of us to stand physically together in the same place again, healthy and safe. That prayer was answered last week.

Like many of the stories of modified plans and gatherings that I have heard, read, and seen in the last year and a half my short time at home looked a little different than I would have ordinarily planned and there are many people I wasn’t able to see. While I missed getting to see, hug, and catch up with many of you the silver lining was a beautiful and special time with these people – a time of answered prayer, and a time I will cherish forever. I look forward to continued freedom from the COVID cloud as vaccines and treatments continue to grow and evolve, but for now this answered prayer was a perfect reminder to me to choose thanksgiving and joy for the blessing of what was instead of staying in the sadness of what wasn’t. Our few days together were full, fun, and delicious 🙂

Leaving home has always been hard for me, even when the current place of my residence is a place I love and cherish; leaving home has never come easy. This time was no different, but my perspective was. This time, an answered prayer of reunion and present day health allowed me a new perspective of gratitude. There were still tears, there were still overwhelming moments of grief and sadness, there was a still a longing for more time – but this answered prayer gave me a new response to those things, a response that probably should have always been there but I hadn’t been able to grab ahold of in a real way before, the response was “thank you.”

Every time the tears welled up, every time my spirit felt heavy and dreaded departure day – my heart whispered “thank you.” Thank You, Father in Heaven for these days and moments for us to be together again and for our present health and safety. I know there are too many people in the world who don’t have that COVID story now, and many people who still may not when it’s all said and done, so thank you that today we do.

It’s easy to look back on this last year and focus on what we’ve lost in time, education, relationships, etc…and all of those losses are real and worthy of our grief. I hope many of you have some thank you moments too, and I hope those thank you moments anchor us all for what unknown still lies ahead in this thing called life, because COVID or no COVID hard times await us all and we need beautiful thank you moments to anchor us when the seas get rough.

With a welcome home crew like this…you can’t stay sad for long ❤

Ironically I landed in Malawi exactly 4 years to the day I arrived in 2017. A few things have changed in that time, one of which being my ability to tolerate and value change 🙂 My sweet roommate helped me celebrate the day with peanut butter cookies and our favorite sweet chili chicken for dinner!

Ya’ll have held on through this personal sappy Ashley stuff, so I want to also share with you a brief Blessings update 🙂 When I return to work on Tuesday (Monday is our labor day holiday in Malawi), I will be joined by our new medical officer and pharmacy technician! I am really excited about both of these people and I do believe God has answered our prayers for the right people for this time and season and Blessings. Please be in prayer as our new team members join us and begin to learn our culture, and please pray boldly that their presence and fresh perspectives would stretch our minds and help us continue to grow and improve in our pursuit of excellent healthcare!

We are also currently in the hiring process for a few nurses and a clinical officer so we also appreciate your prayers for God’s provision in applicants, and wisdom for our selection committee in the coming days and weeks.

Much love,

Ash 🙂