Our trip to Ghana is less than a week away.  When I close my eyes, the smiles and aromas of Africa slowly return.

Emily and Paul were with us on our last adventure, and oh how we wish this
was another family trip.  From our first day to the last evening in Ghana it was trip filled with joy.  Looking though the photo album, my pulse begins to quicken with anticipation. Africa!

Tempering my excitement is the very real work ahead for Beth and I.  We have but a few days to complete packing and preparing — audio recording equipment for the Komba villages we will be visiting, satellite maps to help aid in some of the navigation, camping supplies (food, stove, mosquito netting, etc.), software toolchains for editing the Komba praise songs and stories and loading them onto the solar-powered BIBLEplus units, planning field tests for the water filtration units, and of course preparing Emily and Paul for our absence.  We are naturally concerned about what could happen while Beth and I are on the other side of the planet, however, our preparations reveal two important lessons: our illusion of control is self-inflicted and God has blessed us with wonderful children.

So, we prepare both our hearts and our gear.  As is our custom, we have set up “the packing table” in our kitchen, and begin to slowly accumulate all the pieces… passports, visas, yellow-fever vaccination cards, camera gear, and of course my headlight :-)  Africa!  We hear your joyful songs and rumbling drums.  We are coming.