Woke up last Sunday and was reminded that it’s rainy season in Rwanda- the tin roof we stay under= awesome acoustics and our roofless church would have been like Holiday World’s wave pool by the offering time. So, when we were expecting to preach, sing, dance, etc. for hours, we found ourselves with a sweet morning to listen to the rain. It’s kind of nice when weather messes up schedules because no one can do anything- you can’t do anything about not being able to do anything so it’s freeing knowing that everybody else can’t do anything either- it’s like a get out of jail free card for life for a window of time. I was excited- an excuse to be guiltlessly lazy. No expectations for some moments-just waiting on mama nache (mother nature)-yes I still shorten words unnecessarily.
In this morning of limbo I got to play cards, sleep in, think lots of deep thoughts because for some reason listening to the rain spurs those brain busters, think and speak out, lots of world race-y thoughts, which includes many obscure ‘would you rathers’, talk about food from home probably too much, watch a Beth Moore sermon thing(which only fueled my desire to write her someday-yes, I got her address, yes I think she’s more likely to respond if I send her a letter from a weird country than from Evansville),and drink too much Rwandan tea(tastes like mix of ginger/green/sweet something)
Anyways- I was reminded of how thankful I am to be on the race. This Sunday I woke up with expectations of a long day I wasn’t really ready for- instead I got a blessing of a morning, seriously, I needed it. Plus we got to go to this pastor inauguration later-not sure what that means either- which was hilariously awesome-at one point there was a horn of salvation filled with anointing oil- and we got two sodas (yes please, they’re golden here and not one, but two), some banging Rwandan gospel music, and I played a mean celebrity name game with Sarah next to me (jotted down like 500 celebrity names back and forth, my fave=Tom Thumb) To top it off, Pastor James bought us ice cream-hard to come by in Af.
It wasn’t just that Sunday that made me thankful for the race- it’s when I realize how unique this way I get to live is. It’s so changing, so challenging, so unique- it’s the only atmosphere that really stretches you 24/7. The sermon I listened to said at one point, “Until you’re with people that bring out the worst in you, God can’t do the best in you.” I think that’s what’s semi-happening in some capacity- this trip gives room for God to try to bring out the best in you, and not just because you’re living with random people all the time that bring out your worst. It’s just such a stretching experience- I wish I could explain it-just know that it’s a good kind of stretching.
