Africa. Africa. Africa. After 40 hours of travel, we made it. FINALLY. The descent from air was filled with an overwhelming amount of emotion. 30 minutes of worshipping the Lord, uncontrollable tears streaming down my cheeks. My heart cried out, "God, You are FAITHFUL! I am nervous and scared and excited and jumping up and down inside. You called me to this place many years ago and I have been patiently (and at times, impatiently) waiting for Your perfect timing. And now here I am, about to land on African soil, to love in whatever ways you have set before me. Thank you for not going back on Your word. Thank you for keeping Your promise…It's You and me. Let's do this."
Deplaning and heading to baggage claim with 40 other people sort of stole my thunder, but that afternoon, as we drove 5 hours to the Swazi border, it slowly began to hit me. As we waited for our visas, my heart leapt with excitement – excitement I had to contain because, as my sleepy team leader told me, I had too much energy for that time of night. Thunder stolen again (and probably reasonably so) *womp, womp.
Thankfully, the Lord always has a sweet way of bringing me back to that awestruck, joy-filled state, and even though this morning seemed perfectly unordinary, it was not… this morning, I woke up in Swaziland. As I mentioned in my blogpost from my first morning in Nepal (4 months ago), one of my absolute FAVORITE things about traveling is that very first morning when I awake in a new place. The excitement I feel is incomparable. And this morning, my heart was full of glee. As my slightly jet-lagged body rolled out of bed, it took a minute for my brain to make the connection, and then it hit me. HOLY CRAP. I'm in AFRICA. I whispered sweetly, "Thank you, Father." Butterflies soon accompanied my joy, as the Lord and I walked hand in hand out the door to breakfast. Cool, crisp air surrounded me and my eyes filled with tears. Not only was I living a dream, but it felt like AUTUMN! Could this life get any better?!
I am sure that the days ahead will be filled with mixed emotions, and the enemy will surely try to steal my thunder (he might even win sometimes), but my prayer is that I would draw near to God, so close that even in difficult times I would find joy, joy everlasting. I will never forget this day, this moment. TODAY, I am alive. TODAY, I am thankful. TODAY, I am in Africa 🙂
