My heart today is longing for the adventures of East Africa. The unknown, the on-your-guard against both man and beast, the thrill of victory--be it over catching and killing the cobra or mamba, protecting your home and people from those who would seek to take from you, sharing an apropos word with a hurting friend, confronting the one needing correction or guidance, or actually checking off every item on your entire to-do list during your once-a-month foray into the capital city, all serve to satisfy the adrenaline push for successful living in a culture that daily simultaneously both fills and drains the soul.
I'd be hard-pressed to put any one of those victories over another, for in some seasons of our Ugandan life victories of any kind seemed elusive. But, they weren't in actuality. Everyday brought some sort of victory--even if it was simply finishing the day unscathed whether physically, emotionally, spiritually, or materially.
Today? I simply load myself, and the few things I need for my nursing job into a well-running vehicle. I leave my comfortable, more than ample house, and drive on lined, non-pot-holed roads, on which there are no livestock, wild beasts, or pedestrian obstacles, through working traffic lights, a mere 15 minutes to my destination where my patient has all her supplies at the ready.
What kind of challenge is that?
It's a challenge in which the greatest hurdle is of my mental state--will I walk content? Will I complain and long to be in a different place? Well, yes, many days I do.
This morning when I settled into my usual chair for my morning coffee, breakfast, prayer and Bible reading, my eye caught view of a tattered copy of, "The Flame Trees of Thika", Elspeth Huxley's celebrated recounting of her childhood in Kenya among the Masai and Kikuyu. Before I had even taken my Bible in hand to read, my mind and heart wandered to East Africa, and a discontent over my current "boring" life began to agitate.
And yet, being where God has designed us to be in this moment, regardless of the take my brain or heart might assign to it, is the best place to be.
Be present, be aware, be responsive to God's design for today. That is my great adventure. Rise to whatever He brings today--this creates an adventure far better than any I can imagine. Still, this truth is something my mouth has to tell my heart multiple times a day.
I've been reading Isaiah 55 this week. I won't expound here on the encouragement I've received from it. Read it for yourself and let God speak His truth to you in your own adventure.
