Hello Friends and Family! Its been a wonderful two weeks since I’ve started my journey here in Africa and God has revealed so much to me. It’s amazing how much the Holy Spirit can move in you when you allow your self to be vulnerable and open with others. It’s honestly been a long time since I’ve ever been vulnerable with others outside of my family. Things have happened in my life that I’ve just kept bottled up for so long that have made it really hard to trust and let people in. But I’ve found how easy it is to let people in that truly care about you. It’s a slow but steady process but I’m on my way!
There’s so much that happens in a week here in Swaziland. I could have a blog for every single day and talk about my experiences but there’s unfortunately not enough Wifi access for that.
As part as living more in the moment with God, I’ve made a few just simple observations about the world around me that I wanted to share with you to give a little glimpse into life here in Africa. It’s things I probably wouldn’t have ever noticed if I hadn’t asked God to let me see with his eyes. These are definitely “stop and smell the roses” kinda moments.
The Dirt
It’s literally everywhere here in the Africa Bush. Most roads are dirt, kids are covered in it, and your feet are perpetually dirty. It gets in your nose as you breathe and every crack and crevice you never realized you had. There are also a lot of free range animals in the rural area we are in so the animals go as they please… if you know what I mean.
As dirty and gross and unclean it can be, the abundance of dirt brought me back to Genesis and when God breathed into us and formed us from this dirt. God took the something so unclean and created the beauty that is human life because he’s just that good to us. It says a lot about who God is and reminds me his presence and creation is all around us… or in this case, caked on everything we own.
The Walking
We walk everywhere… and I mean everywhere. God’s definitely given me an appreciation for my health and athleticism because I’m not sure I could make it without it. I would say we walk at least 5 km a day between walking to care points and going on our team sunset walks. However, walking doesn’t seem monotonous or slow because I’m always either skipping with the sweetest kiddos or praying with my team about life or our day ahead. And sometimes it’s just quiet and about enjoying the walk and the journey.
Even though I am moving literally, I feel still in the presence of God. It’s given me a lot of time to think or not to think about life, what’s ahead, but also what’s right here in front on me. I feel like every day God has something new for me whether it’s an experience or something about his character that I hadn’t realized before.
With all of these things God has shown me in these short weeks, a common theme is just seeing him and his glory through out all of it. And I think that is the point. To see The Spirit move in mighty ways like never before.
Much Love
Carson
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