Our first full day of ministry was spent shoveling dirt and rocks into wheelbarrows, pushing them up a hill, lifting it over a wall, dumping it out, then raking it flat. That’s it that is all we did. My hands have callous, my arms are jello, and my back is broken, but I am full. Because as we worked we got to joke and laugh with each other and make new friends. Our new South African friends loved asking us about American sports, what each state is like and we even swapped dance moves. My favorite time was when we got to talking about names. It started as a fun game of me asking my new friend Wisdom to give me a Zulu name, the name he gave me was Zodwa. Which means only daughter. The conversation progressed our to them asking us what our American names mean because they didn’t know if Americans thought the same way about as they do. As we talked and laughed I began to think of the Zulu name Wisdom had given me, at first he gave it to me without asking if I had any siblings, which I do, so we laughed and he tried to change it but it had already stuck. So I became Zodwa, only daughter. As we continued to work and I began to embrace the name, I started to think that it has a way deeper meaning than Wisdom had intended it to have.
The last few months since the start of training camp I have been wrestling with the concept of God not just being The Father but more specifically my father and what it means to live as a child of God. So now on day one the people I am supposed to ministering to are unknowingly flipping the script on me and remind me who I am in Christ. I am Zodwa. I am His only beloved daughter who He love unconditionally no matter what I do because I am not just one of His daughters but His only. Now I need to live in that confidence of His love.
