This morning was ridiculous (ly awesome).
I wake up and do some morning yoga with some of my sisters. Before I can even get off the floor to eat some breakfast, Semonga (another one of our contacts) knocks on our door and tells me and two of my teammates that it is time to go harvest. What?! No one told me that happening! I run to change my clothes, try to find a pair of boots from the closet that fit, and scarf down some oatmeal (not the best plan). Lena, Bethany and I jump in the van and find Semonga’s brother already in the backseat waiting for us. And off we go to an unknown farm with unknown crops that need to be harvested…
We drive through fields of sugar cane so high that if we were lost in it we would have to climb up on top of the van to see anything but green. We make it to the field and Semonga tells us with disappointment that he forgot his machete. Oh no! Thankfully he finds a baby machete that will just have to do for today. We toss cabbages from one person to another and into the bucket, keeping count of how many we pick so we can divide them evenly for the 5 care centers we will visit today. The men cut down stalks of corn for us to de-corn and toss in another bucket.
Caked with mud everywhere and with my green rain boots now a questionable brown, it’s bath time. We follow the men to a hose and try to scrub off the mud from our boots and bodies with a plastic rag. Honestly, I end up just getting wetter and muddier than I was before and somehow the men are sparkling clean.
Side Note- A bucket of 100 pieces of corn is WAY heavier than I ever expected. Especially when you’re carrying it with mud-heavy shoes and forging your way own path through weeds as tall as I am and dodging cabbage still in the ground at the same time. Good thing I’ve been working out.
So we head to the 5 care centers to deliver produce. Each one is distinct in personality and atmosphere, but all of them have kids everywhere with hungry looks in their eyes. At one I jump rope with 2 kids, one I catch kids as they go backwards down a slide, another I sit on a tire fence and am told by a confident 9 year old that I am 15 years old, regardless of my attempts to convince her that I really am 22.
As we drive from care center to care center we get to learn about our drivers and the meaning of their names. They’re convinced that I am an absolute crazy person after watching me traipse through the forests of weeds, play with kids and high five a boy out the car window as we drove by. Driving on random dirt roads and holding on for dear life so I don’t bounce out of my seat, I can’t help but be filled with satisfaction. We worked hard (not as hard as the farmers, but still) to harvest produce and now we get to go to 5 communities and bring not only nourishment for their bodies, but for their spirits as well. Even if its just 15 minutes of loving.
Sometimes its hard to get out of bed and wait with anticipation to see what God has planned for the mornings when our days are made up of weeding the garden or organizing donated clothes. It just does not seem like I am doing enough. Plus, it’s Month 6 and I miss home- family, friends, and the familiar. And life here is no way familiar or comfortable. But after driving in every which direction through Swaziland bringing our labors of love, I told my teammate I cannot imagine going back to my “normal” life after days like today. This place is so full of beauty that I have never experienced and so many opportunities to pour out God’s love to His children. I never could have pictured myself here in Month 6, being overflowed with our Father’s joy and contentment. But I am and it’s wonderful.
OH YEAH! Look what God made for the end of my day today…
