Fly away home
So I'm flying tomorrow morning.. everything is about to come crashing into reality. 2018, the year of adventure, begins.
I am really excited - I love to journey and I am excited for this new season: for all that God will teach me of Himself and the time I will be able to spend sitting with Him and soaking Him in, in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Hawaii is a meeting point for the nations as it is in the middle of nowhere (therefore in the middle of everywhere!). It is not that far from the mainland US, South America, SE Asia, Australia.. it is a long way from Europe - I will certainly be a cultural minority!
About 10 years ago I had a prophetic picture of my heart and, wherever it was cut into, the nations fell out of it. Ever since I was 11 and living in Singapore, I have known that I am a girl of the nations - I love to learn and speak different languages; I love to travel; I love to hang out with people; I love to worship and encounter Jesus with people of other nations (it reminds me that God is certainly not British!!) So I am the girl with the nations in my heart, going to the University of the Nations, to do life with people from all nations, and from that place we'll be sent to the nations!
Am I brave? No.. I'm honestly not! But I have heard God's voice very unmistakably over the last 9 months, seen His amazing provision for me and now as I stand on the edge of the cliff, He is pushing me to fly into this next chapter - which will almost certainly catapult me into wherever and whatever He has next (that is the scary bit by the way - I'm pretty sure that I'm not coming back to live long-term in the UK anytime soon, but who knows!) To not go would be simply disobedient for me at this moment. So I'm going - in a few hours!
Thank you for journeying with me. Thank you for loving me, writing to me, praying with me, supporting me financially and emotionally and all of the many ways that you stand with me. Part of the joy of this journey is I get to take people with me - you get to adventure with me and I pray that God might use what He's doing with me to stir something in you.
Practical quick things to pray for right now:
- Smooth flights and journey tomorrow - including border control etc.
- That my luggage will make it
- Protection over my health
- For quick, deep friendships with other people on my school
I am doing a Discipleship Training School for all ages - so it's not a "gap year" style as some of them are, nor is it going to be 20s-30s particularly - there will be families and different generations and life experiences all thrown in together. I can't wait!
I will keep you updated as much as I can.
With very much love,
Hannah
A closing thought - where is home? What is home? Is it a physical place? A house? A town? People? As I've been pondering "home" over the last few weeks - particularly as I have physically moved my life from Bury to Norwich to Reading, I have come to the conclusion that home is wherever I am known, loved and wherever my spirit is at rest. Ultimately my home is Jesus (so therefore - whichever part of the world I chase Him to) but significant people around the UK are "home" for me which is beautiful as it means that rather than being a restless wanderer with no home, I have many homes.
