Full Cirlce

My life in Mercy Ships feels like it is coming Full Circle. This picture is our current Africa Mercy Human Resources team (L to R: Tatyana from Brazil, me, Denise from US, Pat from US, and Cindy from Canada). As many of you know, I started out in Human Resources in Mercy Ships back in 2000 onboard the Anastasis. Because many of our crew are currently in Africa, I was somewhat filling in for Brenda Cole, our Africa Mercy HR manager, who is in Africa as well. Since coming to the Africa Mercy, I have moved to the public relations side of things. But in just over a week, I am heading to Ghana, West Africa to once again, work in HR onboard the Anastasis doing exactly what I was doing 6 years ago arriving the exact day 6 years later!! I have come full circle ... what does that even mean?

Living onboard a ship lends itself to a lot of analogies. We use a lot of rope onboard our ships. And I'm not talking about the skinny rope used for jump ropes. I'm talking about rope so thick, it's hard to put your arms around it let alone lift it!! (but we are fortunate to have some strong deckies working for us!). This is the rope (known as mooring lines) to anchor the ship to the berth in which we are docked. It's just like coming full circle. My life is tied into the people you see in the picture. My life is tied into people who are NOT in the picture. It is just like those mooring lines. My life is strengthened because of the people I have met; the people who are influencing my life, my thoughts, my viewpoints. My life is interwined with theirs - we share a common vision of why we are here, what we are about, and in whom we believe. They 'anchor' me and help me stay 'tied to the dock' rather than 'float off' into the unknow - in other words, they help keep me grounded. The bible has a verse that says ... when a brother or sister is down, the other picks him up...(paraphrased). The 'sisters' you see in the picture (and those you don't) are the ones who encourage me when I'm down, rejoice with me when I'm up. My life has been strengthened because of them. Full circle is a good thing!