In America if people are not on time, we are expected to get upset. When flights, buses, or trains are late we expect compensation. It’s not that way in Africa. Here when frustration arises, you are told “TIA: This is Africa”. Internet is expected to be slow and sometimes not work, even after you’ve paid. When our bus left 6 hours after its expected departure, we wondered why everyone we thought was on the same bus just sat patiently. Here the norm is to hurry up and wait.
This week I have been getting up shortly after sunrise and going to bed just after sunset. The time I wake up and the time I go to bed is really the only time I have control of. It has been a struggle to hurry up and wait, and wait, and sometimes wait some more. Waiting for the taxi to arrive. Waiting for the electricity to come back on. Waiting for a strong internet connection. Waiting. It goes against every cell in my body because I was raised to make the most of every moment. At the beginning of this month I felt guilty if I was not finding something productive to do.
I think a lot about my boss saying one time that on the plane you should make the most of that time. “Instead of sleeping like everyone else,” he said “bring something productive to do.” I totally agree with making the most of your time in whatever you are doing, although when in Africa, living at an orphanage, is hanging out with kids really seen as productive? Especially when they have different visitors in and out monthly? Am I really making a difference? Is hanging out with my team playing card games and cooking dinner really being all that productive?
Then I asked myself “Did I really come on the race to ‘be productive?'” No. I came to build community. To be vulnerable and transparent. To be pushed to be better and push others to step into who God has created them to be. To see the Lord in completely new ways. To experience how people live and view God in different cultures.
In America we are focused on how much we can get in the shortest amount of time, and how it will benefit us. Yes, we are richer. Yes, we are better educated. Yes, we have better internet. Yes, we have better healthcare. Yes, we have better _______ (input almost anything that costs money here). But what we lack is the emphasis on good old fashioned relationship. Relationship that crosses cultures. Relationship that mends brokenness. Relationship that feeds the soul. Relationship that pushes you to be better.
Our hurried lives and minds focused on the next meeting, practice, or test, make it difficult to live the purpose we were all created for. God did not create us in His image to make millions, go to school for 10+ years, travel the world, or see how much we could save/invest. Although none of these things are bad or sinful, we were created for SO MUCH MORE. We were created to love. Simply love. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, you are called to love. Love your fellow millionaires. Love your fellow students. Love your fellow traveler. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR whatever that looks like.
We were also created to depend on the Lord. We can go through life setting up savings accounts, not once wondering where the next meal will come from, trusting that our own works will give us fulfillment and purpose. Our own works can put physical food on the table, but we will be forever spiritually hungry if we always depend on what we can do.
I am learning that it’s good to wake up early and sit and be still and be in awe of the God who created the universe. It’s okay to go to bed thinking ‘I didn’t do much today but soak up time with people I love.’ I will no longer live life with a checklist of ‘productive things done for the day’ that runs through my mind as I fall asleep. I will live my life in moments. Moments that take me deeper with the Lord. Moments that cause me to fall on my face, humbled by all that He is. Moments that hurt my abs so much from laughter. Moments when I cry hearing stories from the people I love. Moments that cause me to remember how blessed I am.
When we live our lives in moments we stay focused on the present and how in that moment we can serve our Creator, through loving all that He has created.
