Just a little glimpse into my life….i just sneezed while drinking coffee and spilled it on my shirt, and then instead of going to wash the shirt, I proceeded to put more coffee on it to even out the stain. Then I was more worried about the coffee that I had wasted than the stain on the shirt I wear everyday. This is what my life has become.
Right now I am sitting at a hostel on the beach of Lake Malawi, drinking a mango smoothie, and listening to the sound of lapping waves on the shore and the laughs of dozens of naked little African children playing in the water. I decided it was probably time to update you all on my time in Africa before I leave next week.
Everything about Africa is a mystery to me. I often find myself looking at my life in a rearview mirror and pondering when it became normal to live this life. There are so may random little memories and things I have realized about myself over the past few months. I’ve learned that there is nothing predictable about my life, and I love it. I typically have no idea what I am doing tomorrow, and next week is a complete mystery. I have gotten to the point that anywhere I sleep for more than two nights is considered ‘home.’ I have found a lot of beauty in the unknown. It’s easier to appreciate today when tomorrow is unknown.
Recently I have lived such an odd life, but I don’t ever want that to change. I have lived where it’s normal to take a taxi into town to get wifi, and to have baboons jump on the table and steal your lunch. I want to create a life for myself thats so out of the ordinary, but is normal to me. I have learned that life doesn’t owe me anything. It’s up to me to create what I want it to be. I don’t ever want a life that I can just get used to. I want it to change and be unpredictable and thoroughly enjoyable. After living this way, I know that I can never go back to living aimlessly. I have tasted the beauty and meaning of being alive, and I refuse to waste anymore of it by living a meaningless story.
People always tell me what an adventure I’m on and how crazy the way I live is, but to me it’s normal. I’m not doing anything special—I am simply living life and being Jesus to the people I am with. No it’s not easy, but I am confident that the Lord did not put me on this earth to live an easy life. I believe I was created to dream big and to live those dreams. I have decided to actually start living the story I have always wanted. To throw logic out of the window and to be spontaneous. To live for the little moments. To go a little crazy sometimes. To get ice cream before and after dinner. To have dance parties all the time. And most of all to be the best example of Jesus that I can be. I am not here to live a ‘normal’ life. In fact, I don’t think any of us are.
“What I’m saying is I think life is staggering and we’re just used to it. We are all like spoiled children no longer impressed by the gifts we’re given — it’s just another sunset, just another rainstorm moving in over the mountain, just another child being born, just another funeral.”
— Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
