Here I stand in Swaziland.
I’ve spent nearly my whole life waiting to walk down the red dusty roads of Africa and here I am doing just that.
Every day is a wonderful adventure, from hitch hiking through the mountains in the back of a sweet potato truck, to riding in a van full of live chickens, there is never a dull moment.
My heart has been captured in more ways that I can express. The Lord is continually filling me with His glory–I am overflowing with His goodness and love.
Everything you’ve heard about African skies is true. Each morning my breath is taken away by the colors of His eyes, reflected through the sunrise. I even lose myself in the noonday skies, cumulous clouds strewn across the sky like big heaps of mashed potatoes–or maybe I’m just hungry! But I have to admit what gets me most is when the heavens open wide and the stars explode across expanses too great for me to understand just to meet my eyes. I could stand and stare for hours.
I take in these moments slowly, trying to hold onto them for as long as I can because I know that the beauty of such times only lasts for a while. I know I will soon be back in America, surrounded by 1st world distractions.
For now, my days are filled with bright smiles and warm hugs from African children. Their desperation for love has broken me, but it has taught me a lot as well. They cry “touch me,” which translates to “hold me.” All they want is to be held, to have someone take them safely into their arms and love them.
I think about how that is all anybody really wants. We all just want to be loved. And what is so beautiful–God wants to do just that. He wants to LOVE you to life. All He wants is for you to give Him your whole self, your whole heart so that He can take you safely into His arms and love you.
