What a life.
The first month of the World Race in Côté d’Ivoire was honestly incredible, and I am 100% positive no one on my team wants to hear me say “Guys, like what a life, right?” ever again. But can’t stop won’t stop because like… WHAT A LIFE!!
When you come to the dinner table and brace for impact when the meal might be an entire fish with eyeballs, a giant frog, or your favorite rice that tastes like hibachi; when you are casually on the toilet and see the biggest cockroach of your life crawling towards you; when you’re having time with Jesus in the morning and you look to your right to find a couple of pigs following the Lord’s command to be fruitful and multiply… what a life.
When you open your door, and there might either be a couple of live chickens tied up on the porch from the chief, 97 village kids ready to play, or the largest beetle in all of Africa… what a life.
When you’re singing your heart out to “This Little Light of Mine” for a crowd and nearly take your arm off on a sharp stick hut, or come home after church with bruises everywhere because church was so #lit and you tried to show off your dance moves (that went a little something like the mailroom scene from Elf).. what a life.
When your adventure day is either feeding monkeys, smashing cassava and carrying water on your head, being on call to help with baby deliveries, or getting team malaria tests at the local clinic… what a life.
When a giant rainstorm brings the first goosebump to your body in weeks, you help rescue a newborn baby goat, and get handed a random baby on the way home (while the front of your shirt is covered in goat baby and the rest of you is soaking wet from dancing to Toto in the rain, naturally)… what a life.
When Olivia’s weave from our African hair braids (why yes, I did look like Carl from Shameless with mine) gets stuck in the fan and it basically explodes, or when you’re loading a bus for a 8 hour trip and the person in front of you has a full grown, live chicken for their carry on… what a life.
When a man who has been Buddhist for 10 years comes to Jesus; when two brothers put their trust in Jesus after not wanting him and then receive physical healing; when a blind man comes to your porch twice a day every single day, led by the hand by his little grandchildren, to pray and sing and dance, seeking healing yet never losing faith or hope… what a life.
When Jesus continues to show up, answer prayers, soften your heart, and redeem places you feel least worthy of redemption; when you have the revelation that Jesus literally speaks to you personally and purposefully; and when you’re not any kind of preacher or teacher, but the Holy Spirit brings specific words and scriptures to your mouth that you barely even know you’re speaking… what a life.
Whenever I think of this past month and all of the “what a life” moments, I can’t help but smile. Honestly most of the time I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, where we’re going, or how things are going to work out.. I’m pretty much just really in over my head. It would be easy to get overwhelmed, but to steal some of my favorite song lyrics to close… “whether I sink, whether I swim— it makes no difference when I’m beautifully in over my head.”
On to Ghana- World Race month two, throwing shade to the haters who are tired of hearing me say what a life ….. because WHAT A FLIPPING LIFE YALL!!
