It has been exactly one week since I returned from Africa...and nothing will ever be the same. Everything is different there...even something as simple as a crow. This is a picture of a crow in Malawi...just as common as crows are here. They make the same noises...they fly and eat and nest just like the crows do here in Pennsylvania....but they are different, drastically different....from their appearance to the impoverished world that they endure....nothing is the same!

I wish that people here in the States could see how wrong we have it. I wish that they could see the respect and the gratitude that the people of Malawi have....the sense of community. I wish they could experience the slow pace of their lives which ebb and flow with wonder and joy...but wish as I might, I can't see how anyone here could understand.

 Our world tells us that we are number one that we deserve anything that we want and that we should do anything to get it. Our world prompts us to steal cheat and lie, calling it a necessary evil to accomplish our goals. Our world shuts the door on our neighbors and never welcomes a stranger. Our world is secluded in the arena of technology...cut off from relationship...destined for self destruction.

We hurry along at a pace unfit for anyone...where are we running to? What is so important that we push each other out of the way to get there? Why do we not value each other? Why do we not make room for God? What has been the price for our advancement?

We scurry through each day alone and unfulfilled always reaching for the next "new thing" that will make us feel complete. As we clamor for this infinite brass ring, we step on everyone around us and make "self" an Idol. We worship day and night, forgetting where we came from or why we even exist...

I have many amazing stories to share with you...and I plan to begin sharing them daily starting tomorrow. I needed this time to adjust and to ferret out my feelings about being back. My heart remains in Africa...my soul recognized the natural rhythms of life there, and even though they are impoverished on a monetary level, they are wealthy in all that truly matters. We have much to learn... I hope it isn't too late.

Thank you for giving me some time to re-acclimate...there are things that I do not want to forget...there are things that I don't want to change. I am so grateful for the reminder that we really are aliens in this world. I wait even more eagerly for Christ's return. Until that time I will set my sights on your ways Lord and come into your Courts with Thanksgiving!

A leadership expert once wrote, "The pursuit of my dream has taken me out of my comfort zone, elevated my thinking, given me confidence, and confirmed my sense of purpose. My pursuit of the dream and my personal growth have become so intertwined that I now ask myself, 'Did I make the dream, or did the dream make me?' When your mind accepts a new idea or learns a new truth, it is forever changed. And once stretched, it takes on a new shape and never goes back to its original form."

And so I am changed, stretched, never to be again the same...and that is a very good thing!

The joy is in the journey. My life in Christ is  as full as He promised it would be...


"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
- John 10:10