Have you ever had those days where you just want to look up and smile toward Heaven and say "Thanks God, I know this is coming from you as a sweet reminder that you are taking care of me and filling in the things that I feel are missing with the things that are coming from You?" If so, then you will understand exactly where I am coming from with this post. If not, then I encourage you to check your heart and see if there are areas that need to be completely and totally relinquished to God's control and taken away from wholly relying on yourself or others to fulfill the needs in your life.
Friday.. July 5th... This is a day that will forever be burned into my memory. I pray that I never forget the sounds and the emotions of this day. I feel certain that you may just be a bit confused about what I am talking about. A birthday in Kenya is a big deal. It is a chance to celebrate and share and that is exactly what happened.
If you had asked me last year what I wanted for my birthday, I probably would have given you some ridiculous idea of a present that wouldn't matter after six months or so. Before leaving to come to Kenya, I asked God to show me something new and exciting for my birthday. I can't believe the way that He chose to answer that prayer.
For starters, I didn't expect Jim to be waiting for us to arrive at the airport. That was a sweet surprise! We landed rather early Friday morning and I thought that he would have been at the school teaching his Bible classes. It's nice to be surprised every once in a while. I wish that I could say that that was the end of the surprises for the day, but it wasn't. The surprises continued throughout the day. We went to the feeding station/school and the entire school full of children, which was about 350 kids, sang and celebrated my birthday with me. If you want to feel love, listen to a group of beautiful Kenyan children sing to you at the top of their lungs with more passion that I think most people possess. My tinsel necklace will by far be one of my most treasured possessions because of the sweet memories it brings to mind. Later in the afternoon, we headed out to the orphanage. This has been a place that I have only dreamed of and experienced through pictures and stories of others. You can't even begin to imagine the love that just radiates from the entire property. Again the surprises weren't done. Jim Cooper again found another way to bless my heart and add to the feelings that I was special. Shortly before we were to head out to go back to the house, two large metal pans were brought into the main sitting area. We had devotions with the children and then I began to figure out what was going on. Jim planned a birthday party for me to share with the children. I can't think of a better way to celebrate than to share with children who have so very, very little in this world. Sharing my birthday with them is something I will never, ever forget. The thing that makes it just a tad bittersweet is thinking that at home, my birthday is considered more of an afterthought because of its closeness to a national holiday. Someone taking the time to think of me, wanting to make the day special, really spoke to my heart.
It is easy to focus on the things that are missing from your life... I don't have _______... the perfect job, the perfect husband/wife, the perfect children, the perfect house, and the list could go on and on. What if instead of focusing on what was lacking we took the time to look around and see the things that God is placing in our lives that are far, far better than the things that we lack? What if we placed value on relationships, people, and acts of service rather than what others can do for us and things? I can tell you this much, you'd be seeing and experiencing so much more in life than just being miserable with what limited things you have. It would be easy for me to focus on the fact that I am 34 years old and not yet married without children of my own, without parents, mostly without grandparents, and lacking the ideal job and income that society says I should have. Being around such precious children and absolutely wonderful people here in Kenya has put an entirely new perspective on society and its expectations of me.
Again, I know that the words that I am writing really aren't doing this trip justice. It truly takes being here to understand what I am trying to describe. This has truly been the trip of a lifetime and the experiences are making dramatic changes in my life.
More will be coming in the days to come. There is a lot more to see, hear, and do. I will update as I have the chance. Love to you all!
Melody
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