Being in Love

I experienced the poking and prodding by hundreds of beautiful African children.
I experienced being stared at because I am white.
I experienced every piece of hair on my body getting pulled because it was something the kids had never really seen before.
I experienced sweet little dirty hands holding mine.
I experienced snot covered kisses.
I experienced absolutely no privacy anywhere I went. If I went inside my teammates were there and if I went outside the kids swarmed me.
I experienced being laughed at—A LOT— because I am white.
I experienced showering outside with four walls of cement around me, no roof, a little aluminum door, and a basin with a bucket….& actually loving it.
I experienced constantly having pee on my feet because our bathroom was a hole in the ground and apparently girls can’t aim like guys can.
I experienced being covered in dirt and sweat just 30 minutes after showering. 

I experienced heavy spiritual things.
I experienced discrimination and being ripped off, again, simply because I am white and American.
I experienced hate.
I experienced ignorance.
I experienced a whole new level of devastation.
I experienced my heart being broken over and over again.
I experienced the heaviness and fear of Kony coming back to the little village that we lived in.

These were all intense, beautiful, Good things but one that will never leave me is experiencing the Love of God like I’ve never experienced before.

His presence basically SAT on me. I couldn’t move. Everything inside of me tingled. I had goosebumps for hours. I cried for hours and even the entire day after that. Kim Walker says it so well in her version of “How He Loves Us”. His Love was so thick and tangible and I have never been the same since I experienced it. His Love. He told me that I was wanted. He told me that I was loved. So loved. He took me through all of the hard times in my life and showed me where He was at in that time of my life. He was loving me. He told me that He had big things in store for me. I had never experienced His Love like that before and I have craved it more and more since then. He loves me. It is so simple.
His love is so simple. He doesn’t require anything of us in order to love us, He just DOES. It’s so simple for Him. He showed me the love that He has for my family. He showed me the love that He has for the kids that surrounded me each day. He showed me how simple it is to love.
I will never forget that feeling. The sweet sweet feeling of His presence just sitting on me. The sweet intimacy that Him and I had.  He loves me and I love Him. That’s all.

Uganda was definitely a challenging month but man; it was SO SO SO worth it.