December 18, 2014
Malawi , Africa
l smile softly as I listen to the click click of the pencils moving around the smooth sides of plastic stencils. The dusty floor beneath my feet, the smell of old books, and the dancing colors of the paper chains move above my head as the wind blows smoothly through the schoolhouse window. Upon arriving at Butterfly Space here in Nkhata Bay, we were given a list of differing projects here that we could be apart of. I was told that about an afternoon youth club where local children can come and do crafts or make music or do anything they want. They needed someone to take over if it was going to remain open to the kids for the month of December, and I happened to be the one particularly interested. As a sit in the wooden chair near the teachers desk looking around and catching the different pairs of soft brown eyes, I'm so glad these afternoons have become mine. They are my treasure, and my sweet escape into contentment and joy.
A lot of the kids here have difficult family lives, and lack proper nutrition, but they are not necessarily in need to the extent of some other groups in the bay. They aren't the disabled group, the infants, the HIV or aids patients, the elderly or the sick. What has drawn me to this time with them is not what they are lacking, or what they need, but what they have that needs to be brought out, praised and utterly adored. The beginning of the month there was four children at club; I now have fourteen little boys and two little girls sitting at the small wooden tables in this classroom on the hill. I walk around the room looking at each child's paper, each of them drawing different things with different colors. I like to tell them "Wow, what an artist," I like to hold up their work to the class and have their peers admire the different images on the page, I like to pat their backs as I walk by and smile and love and laugh when they feel shy and seen all at once. It is my favorite thing, it is simple, but it is my treasure. Sometimes I read them Doctor Sues books even though several of them are a bit over thirteen and none of them speak english. When they sneak to the back of the room and get new stencils or musical instruments out of the area they are not "supposed to go," I pretend not to see because these are now my afternoons, and my humble opinion is that creativity and expression means exploration and maybe even a littttttle rule breaking.
When they are finished drawing, gluing, cutting, and shading, I let let them shake the tambourines as loud as they like, dance and sing and do whatever. I'm proud of these little ones that have become my friends for a time, I feel happy when I can give them space and recourses for each one to exude the essence of their makeup; artistic, capable, silly, strong, and everything else, everything more. It's difficult to explain in writing what my spirit feels in these treasured afternoons, but I'm doing my best to give you all a taste of my contentment. In all it's like that moment when you look around at your life, in its simplicity and ridiculousness, and you smile and feel in your heart that you want no more and no less. It's like home cooked food with friends, a good glass of wine, or a perfect view. Sometimes it's a passing moment. However, I believe that when it's of the spirit it can last longer and turn into a state of "being," as we learn to live constantly in the satisfaction that everything is as it should be because you are loving others, and you yourself are loved.
I believe that our lives are like my afternoons here. I think Jesus loves the artistic aspects of our souls, he gives us space and resources to magnify and bring out the gifts we each have. My favorite thing I am learning right now is that God is a good God, one who marvels at our talents and embraces our differences, our unique personalities, desires, and essentially our purposes. Contentment comes when we believe that we have the right to accept who are, against societal norms or cultural pressure, the right to dive into our gifts and begin living out what we love. We have the right to exist. We have the right to soak in the love of the father, invest in our growth, our happiness, the things that make us unique, and the truth of the gospel. For me, I was given this Race as a gateway to understanding, an 11 month space for discovering the gifts I've hidden and left unexplored. For other people it might just be the simple reminder that life is most satisfying when we look around us and in us, breath in the beauty of what we have to give thanks for, and celebrate a world that is full of creative potential and vastly incredible but simple truths of love. We are enough in him, we now have the freedom to extend joy, contentment, and peace.
It's simple really… & its beautiful.
Ecclesiastes 3:11-13
