A Lot

So… today was a lot.

First, compared to the previous 2 days of my life, I got a LOT of sleep. Praise Jesus in Heaven who is not bound by time. Seriously. It was awesome.

There were also a lot of people. Like way way more than I had ever imagined. Kenya has a population of 4 million people, 3.138 million of which live in this city. There are people EVERYWHERE. At 6:30 this morning they were all up and running around and getting on buses and walking to work and riding mopeds and just living life.

Another thing there was a lot of: emotions. I felt a little overwhelmed with the starkly different thoughts and feelings scattered throughout my day. A lot of them I haven’t had time to process and be able to grasp, so instead of writing about all of them here and now, I will ask for prayer.

Poverty and true need is a hard thing to grasp. So if you would, please pray that I am able to put everything I see and experience in the context of God’s love for me and these people, and that I am able to better understand how to serve my King because of what He teaches me through all of this.

A LOT OF FOOD. Holy cow…or… goat. Hold that thought. The portion sizes here are extremely large. In the words of the locals: “We walk everywhere! We need lots of energy.” I have yet to be able to finish a meal, not because it wasn’t good, but because it’s a pile of food a mile high every time they set a plate in front of you. So back to the goat thing.. I tried goat today for the first time! Much more authentic am I right?? I thoroughly enjoyed it, but don’t take my word for it 😉

 

Today we did lot of singing. I sang about (if I calculated correctly) 11 different songs today, some in English, some in Swahili, some in both at the same time. The kids wanted to teach us music, and we wanted to teach them music. My favorite thing ever is watching the people of God come together despite a language barrier to worship Him. One day it will be every nation and tribe and tongue. And what an awesome thing that will be.

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A lot of smiles looked at me today with hope in their eyes despite the tattered clothes and dirty walls. The children I met today brought me the greatest joy I have ever experienced. All they wanted to do was take pictures and make goofy faces. Why? Because life is supposed to be filled with joy. And these kids didn’t need anything to make them joyful. They just were. They understand this at 2 and 7 and 9, and here I am at 18, just now scratching the surface of what true joy is and where it comes from.

So today was a lot. But I couldn’t have loved it more.