O.My.Goodness. What a week!! Are you ready to hear this?I continued to keep my thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ and left everything in God's hands and let me tell you what He did:1. Got to Tamale airport and boarded the plane.
I am so thankful for these cute lil' planes. I sat next to an older man who was reading Arabic on his phone. I never talk with people on planes. I don't know why, I just don't. But this man spoke to me and I continued the conversation. Ghanaians have a bold way of talking about what they believe. I mean, they just come right out and say it. I admire that. And so Bobo and I had a nice conversation about our belief in God. In the end, I just had to ask, "What do you hope for?" He did not answer me so I told him about the hope that I have because of what Christ did for me on the cross. I get so excited about the hope that we as Christians have and I knew I had this ridiculous grin on my face while I was sharing.When we got off the plane I had to put on my bargain-with-a-taxi-face, but then Bobo asked me if his driver could take me to where I needed to go. WOW! I got to share the hope of Christ and I got a free ride to the clinic!2- At Akai Clinic, they were so efficient and after landing at 9:00am, I was in seeing a doctor at 10:00am! 
He was very kind and he was able to refer me to a surgeon in Osu. He took me to the front desk and left me in the capable hands of the receptionist. She called Trust Hospital, where the surgeon worked, to see if I could get an appointment. As she talked I could tell they told her I could come on Thursday but I whispered, "I live in Tamale." She then asked if I could come today. They told her if I come right now I can see him. Then she took me outside to where there was a taxi and told him where to take me and how much it would cost. She was beyond helpful!3. I am off, in a taxi, to Osu, a very highly traffic-y area and was starting to let my worries crowd in...but as we got closer...there was NO TRAFFIC!! Nothing!! I said to the driver, "Where are all the cars? Where is the traffic?" He said he didn't know. He has never seen this before. HA! This is my God!4. I get to the hospital and had to do the paperwork/blood pressure stuff and then waited to see the surgeon. He was an older sort of man, not much for talking. He examined me and said he could do it. I asked him how long it would take to recover from this. He said, very nonchalantly, about 2-3 weeks. Ei!! I had to tell him that I would be traveling on December 5th. As he looked at his calendar and openings he said he could do it in December. My heart sank...Nooooooo... I boldly came up with other options, wondering if I was overstepping my bounds but not caring at the same time. He doesn't usually book people unless they have blood work done. I told him I could be down next week and do the blood work but PLEASE book me in so someone doesn't take that spot. He agreed! The plan right now is I will do blood work on Monday, November 20. Then Tuesday, he will look that over and hopefully give me the go ahead and also give me things I need for my insurance to cover this. Then the procedure is scheduled November 27th, the following Monday. That gives me about a week to heal before I get on a plane. He didn't really like that part but I must have been so convincing :)5. I was finished before noon. Since I was in Accra, I might as well see if I can find some celery to go with my stuffing that I would make later in the week. I got a taxi to one mall. and they did not have any :( I took a taxi to another mall and they had some :) YAY!!6. I was back at the airport around 2:00pm. My flight wasn't leaving until 3:30pm so I had plenty of time to reflect and rest. I brought food with me and was just chilling and praising God for all the ways He made this day go so smoothly. I know that if you don't know Accra, you can't fully understand the amazing-ness of all of this going like butter (butt-ah haha). I was just in awe of the power of God and so thankful I did not waste any of my time worrying.Let's fast forward to Friday. Friday, Damary went in for her language evaluation. She was in there for like, 35 minutes! I was wondering what they were doing for so long and that made me nervous. She came out with a smile--she passed!! Ok, my turn. I also was in there a long time. They must have asked almost every single question etc, etc. but I knew all of them. And-- I passed too!! What a weight off my shoulders! Hooray!!! Let me tell you the house was full of screams and rejoicing.And then to top it all off-- Thanksgiving Dinner!!! All the food turned out. Everyone enjoyed themselves. I enjoyed them enjoying :) I am so thankful for my team. How they really are my family here. Afterwards, we each shared about what we are thankful for. What an amazing end to an amazing day...week?!Thank you so much for praying! Thank you, Thank you!! Next thing on the prayer list is for my trip to Accra on Sunday. I will leave very early and hopefully arrive in Accra before evening. Pray for safety on the roads. Pray for police not to trouble me. Pray for a very uneventful trip :) Then, pray when I see the doctor on Tuesday that he would give me the go-ahead and even have an opening earlier like Thursday or Friday. That would give me a longer time to heal before having to sit on an airplane.Praise God with me! Just PRAISE HIM FOR BEING HIM! Love you all.
He was very kind and he was able to refer me to a surgeon in Osu. He took me to the front desk and left me in the capable hands of the receptionist. She called Trust Hospital, where the surgeon worked, to see if I could get an appointment. As she talked I could tell they told her I could come on Thursday but I whispered, "I live in Tamale." She then asked if I could come today. They told her if I come right now I can see him. Then she took me outside to where there was a taxi and told him where to take me and how much it would cost. She was beyond helpful!3. I am off, in a taxi, to Osu, a very highly traffic-y area and was starting to let my worries crowd in...but as we got closer...there was NO TRAFFIC!! Nothing!! I said to the driver, "Where are all the cars? Where is the traffic?" He said he didn't know. He has never seen this before. HA! This is my God!4. I get to the hospital and had to do the paperwork/blood pressure stuff and then waited to see the surgeon. He was an older sort of man, not much for talking. He examined me and said he could do it. I asked him how long it would take to recover from this. He said, very nonchalantly, about 2-3 weeks. Ei!! I had to tell him that I would be traveling on December 5th. As he looked at his calendar and openings he said he could do it in December. My heart sank...Nooooooo... I boldly came up with other options, wondering if I was overstepping my bounds but not caring at the same time. He doesn't usually book people unless they have blood work done. I told him I could be down next week and do the blood work but PLEASE book me in so someone doesn't take that spot. He agreed! The plan right now is I will do blood work on Monday, November 20. Then Tuesday, he will look that over and hopefully give me the go ahead and also give me things I need for my insurance to cover this. Then the procedure is scheduled November 27th, the following Monday. That gives me about a week to heal before I get on a plane. He didn't really like that part but I must have been so convincing :)5. I was finished before noon. Since I was in Accra, I might as well see if I can find some celery to go with my stuffing that I would make later in the week. I got a taxi to one mall. and they did not have any :( I took a taxi to another mall and they had some :) YAY!!6. I was back at the airport around 2:00pm. My flight wasn't leaving until 3:30pm so I had plenty of time to reflect and rest. I brought food with me and was just chilling and praising God for all the ways He made this day go so smoothly. I know that if you don't know Accra, you can't fully understand the amazing-ness of all of this going like butter (butt-ah haha). I was just in awe of the power of God and so thankful I did not waste any of my time worrying.Let's fast forward to Friday. Friday, Damary went in for her language evaluation. She was in there for like, 35 minutes! I was wondering what they were doing for so long and that made me nervous. She came out with a smile--she passed!! Ok, my turn. I also was in there a long time. They must have asked almost every single question etc, etc. but I knew all of them. And-- I passed too!! What a weight off my shoulders! Hooray!!! Let me tell you the house was full of screams and rejoicing.And then to top it all off-- Thanksgiving Dinner!!! All the food turned out. Everyone enjoyed themselves. I enjoyed them enjoying :) I am so thankful for my team. How they really are my family here. Afterwards, we each shared about what we are thankful for. What an amazing end to an amazing day...week?!Thank you so much for praying! Thank you, Thank you!! Next thing on the prayer list is for my trip to Accra on Sunday. I will leave very early and hopefully arrive in Accra before evening. Pray for safety on the roads. Pray for police not to trouble me. Pray for a very uneventful trip :) Then, pray when I see the doctor on Tuesday that he would give me the go-ahead and even have an opening earlier like Thursday or Friday. That would give me a longer time to heal before having to sit on an airplane.Praise God with me! Just PRAISE HIM FOR BEING HIM! Love you all.