Life in debrief

Today is my last day of communication in Kenya. I have 6 days left in this place I can now call home. And it's bittersweet.

Sunday was the team's last day of ministry in Eburru. After a night of laughter and love, we began to say our goodbyes. Eburru is unlike any place I've ever been; the lifestyle is slow - the people are genuine - the landscape is awe inspiring. Ministering there was not about programs or planning or preparing, it was about relationships. I learned to lay in the grass, and instead of go stirr crazy, just enjoy the fellowship with God and with my teammates. If a stranger walked by, invite them in. If friends from down the road stopped over - feed them, play with them, LOVE them. That was my ministry in Eburru. Above anything else, learning to be content in silences, to be ready for the unexpected, and to put someone else's needs in front of my desires. (These are all things I'm still in the process of perfecting).

This week we are debriefing in Nairobi. We are back at the apartments we lived in together during the first six weeks of this trip, and it has really been a homecoming to celebrate. I have never appreciated furniture, toilets, and refrigerators like I am now. Even the simple taste of coffee does something for the soul after going a month without. I don't know what our itinerary looks like, but I know it will be a week of breaking down. A week of analyzing. A week of processing. A week of growth. A week of letting go. Letting go of the life I know here, of the family I have here, and preparing to go back to what before has always been my reality. I am ready for the next step, and yet scared. Scared that I am standing on the end of this road, still unsure of my next step. Time feels like it is running out, but I have learned so strongly while being in Africa that God's timing usually looks a lot different than my own. So I am here, in Nairobi, once again fully trusting and waiting on Him.

Please pray for my team this week as we're all getting ready to head back into the "real world," scattered throughout the U.S. Pray that God is preparing our hearts and minds for what's to come, and that we truly appreciate the things we've learned and the changes that have taken place in us these past three months.



Also, please pray for my family. I learned this morning, via e-mail, that my grandmother past away last week. Her funeral was yesterday, and I was completely unaware. It has been a breaking morning for me, and especially hard being across the ocean from my family and without much communication. It is hard for me still to know the right words to say or prayers to request, but God knows. Please lift up my family during this time. I need His strength.