Since I have never really been away from home with people that I don’t know for longer than a week, I anticipated some homesickness going into this trip. I really anticipated that the homesickness would grip me. I wanted to be prepared to fight off any homesickness so I brought pictures from home. My hope was that I could look at those pictures when I started missing my comfortable and safe little life in Livonia, Michigan.
I also put my pillow, pillowcase, and sheet in a compression bag in hopes that when I took them out in Thailand, they would still smell like home (my Michigan home that is).
When we had finally arrived in Phuket, we unpacked all of our stuff. I got out my pillow and put my pillowcase on, all the while anticipating the wonderful whiff of home that I had tried so hard to preserve.
I put my head into my pillow as I first took it out and it definitely smelled like home, but tears immediately followed. The homesickness that I had anticipated was staring me straight in the face. I immediately lifted that to the Lord and asked Him to fill me up.
After unpacking and finally laying my head down to fall asleep, once again I anticipated the smell of home because I was really missin' you all. When I laid my head down, the pillow did smell like home, but not my home in Livonia.
My pillow now smells like my new home, my Thailand home.
What our amazing Lord spoke to me was, "Allison, this is your new home. You don't have to forget about the one that you left behind for a while, but you do need to trust me in this season. I will provide, I will comfort, I will fill you up. Your daddy is right here with you, I’m not going anywhere." The tears flowed again, but not of sadness…these were tears of PURE JOY.
I was so thankful and humbled that God was already healing me of homesickness. I am still in awe every time that I think about how He provided so quickly. What an amazing Father that we joyfully serve!
Turn to Him with everything that you go through because HE ALONE can satisfy you. He is your provider, comforter, sustainer, lover, friend, ever-present help in trouble. He is ready to deliver you from the hand of the enemy. Will you turn to Him? Will you let Him help you?
PRAYER REQUEST: Tomorrow (Friday) is our first night of bar ministry. We have been preparing all week so please pray that God will bring to our rememberance everything that we prepared and that we will COMPLETEY rely on Him all night. It will be Friday night here, but Friday morning for you all, so please be specifically praying for us Friday late morning.
