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“Take care.” “Be safe.”  “God speed.” When I moved to Africa, everyone always had a final parting word or piece of advice to share before saying goodbye. “We’ll be thinking about you and praying for you.”  “Can’t wait to hear from you.” “Good luck.”  That last one always made me smile, as if luck has anything to do with it. But I get it, saying goodbye is awkward, and sometimes you just say what you’re used to saying. I sincerely appreciated every single word offered by every person who took the time to say the hard goodbye, completely understanding that often words feel inadequate compared to the emotion behind them in the moment.  I remember one time, when this guy was saying his parting phrase to me, he just smiled real big and said, “Have fun!”  Nobody had said that one to me yet, and honestly, it felt a little out of place at the time. It’s not like I was going to a theme park or a birthday party. I remember thinking, wh...

“I just don’t really know what I’m doing with my life,” she said as if that was the conclusion of the matter, and we all laughed as we took turns saying “me too” and “me three” and “me four.”  Just to be clear, we actually do know what we are doing with our lives, just not in the way most people think about it. The very fact that she said, “I don’t know what I’m doing with my life” indicates the kind of culture we come from, one that values having things planned out for your future. But we four girls sitting around this table have quit our jobs (or in one’s case, turned down several offers) to serve here in Africa for a time, and then we will go back to our countries for...who knows what? A fresh start? We may not know exactly what the next season of our future looks like, but we do know what we are doing with our lives. We know what our lives are about and who we are living for. But because of pressure to have things figured out, being in a place of short-term uncert...