I've had a wonderful time being home these past 3 weeks! It's been great to spend time with loved ones, to hold and love on that baby, and eat some good junk food. I'll be home for another month, until August 8, and I really hope to catch up and see all of you while I'm around. I've been on the go since being back, and just now have a week or so to just rest here in K-town. I'm actually trying really hard to be still for at least a few days. I need it. I've definitely got a lot I just want to reflect on, and process, and I need quiet writing time and praying time to do that. I think I need to try to be a bit nicer to myself and be still for a bit! I've slept for 10 hours the past two nights, so that's a start! :-)
I got home June 16, and in keeping with tradition, the whole fam, along with Mom's friend, Elizabeth, hit up the What-a-Burger for a nice big, What-a-cheesburger with LTM and a big Cherry-Lemon Sundrop to wash it down. And my stomach didn't even rebel! I think it's due to the good food I've been eating since meeting those SC folks in Kigali! The next day after coming home, we hit the road to Myrtle Beach, and all the traffic and people that comes with MB this time of year. Ugh! And by the way, it's waaaay hotter here right now than Africa! Well, Rwanda at least. Kigali's elevation is like Denver, so it's pretty cool in the evenings this time of year. But this sticky-sweltering-crazy hot feeling you feel here when you walk outside....you don't feel over there...even during the hottest days of summer, even in Mombasa. The humidity here is merciless! It was great playing with my 16 month old nephew, Aiden, and splashing around in the ocean with him. He's the coolest kid ever! Just fearless! I loved watching him run head first into the waves, and they would crash over his head....he'd just laugh and squint his eyes through the salt water, and get back up for more! So much fun! We celebrated Father's Day with a nice dinner, and ate lots of shrimp too. It was good to eat some shrimp that didn't have the heads still on it! In Rwanda and Kenya, when you eat "prawns," you're eating just exactly what they look like in the ocean, head and all, except cooked a little bit. Gross!
The trip back home from MB was unexpectedly eventful. I was trying to head up to Sanford to see some friends before coming home, and I had gotten all the way past Conway, out to that little country town of Aynor, which is like the middle of nowhere, when all of a sudden my radio starts acting up. I had been singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" at the top of my lungs, when the speakers started getting all scratchy, then they faded to nothing. Dang! I was thinking...I come home for the summer, and now I don't have any music in my car, and you know I'm too simple for an Ipod. What kind of welcome back to America is this! But then, I looked at the odometer and it was rocking back and forth and then the car just stopped and wouldn't go anymore....on the side of this bridge over the Pee Dee river in the middle of nowhere Aynor. And that's when I stopped believing. I was talking to my friend Nick, and he thought it was the alternator, and when I talked to Dad, he concurred. So the tow guys had to come all the way from MB to tow me, cause there weren't any tow places open late in Conway. Ugh! But you know what, I think...no I believe that God has a way of slowing me down just when I need it the most. And often times, He has "slowed me down" with car trouble on the side of the road in some random place. But the times this has happened, I have experienced beautiful sunsets or one time it was a gorgeous rainbow that I know I would have missed if I had kept on moving down the highway. And it was the same this time...I had two hours to just sit there in my car and pray and read and watch an AMAZING sunset! I'm typically not the kind of person that listens to God the first time, or sometimes not even the second time. Sometimes He has to just literally stop me in my tracks like this for me to pay attention to Him. And it's always wonderful when I do.
So anyway, the tow guys arrived, and I quickly looked them over and decided they were safe enough to ride back with. So I jumped in the middle of the cab, with John on my left, and Jay on my right, and we had a lovely hour-long ride back to the beach, full of talks about fishing and good beer and tatoos and church and what Africa is really like, and what Jesus is really like too. I thanked God for connecting me with these guys with big hearts who were curious to know more. What started out to be an AWFUL day, slowly turned into a opportunity to see a fabulous sunset, and share my faith with two great human beings. Oh, and we really had time to get to know one another, because the tow truck got a blow-out tire on the way back, so we had to stop and fix that too! (I was starting to think I was bad luck!) But I firmly believe and know that God chooses us for each other, and nothing is a coincidence in our lives. Each meeting we have in our lives every day is ordained by Him....He already knows and He will faithfully show up if we invite him to! I eventually made it home, but will have to stop in to Sanford another day. It turned out to be $250 I sure did NOT want to spend on a car this summer, but there's a reason for it, and He is faithful!
Other than my car incident, I've enjoyed family and food! I've already crossed many restaurants off that were on my list including...(in random order)...Whataburger, Cookout, Varsity BBQ, Wendy's, Cracker Barrell, Chili's, Lee's, Chick-Fila, Bojangles, Depompas, Starbucks. And even others that weren't on my list, like Arby's and Asian Cafe and McDonalds. To complete the list I still need to hit: K&W, Stag n' Doe, Moe's, AppleBees, TGI Fridays, Panera Bread, Gary's BBQ, Townhouse and WaffleHouse too, good Mexican food (I'm not picky on the restaurant), Taco Bell, and Papa John's pizza. So if you have a hankering for any of these foods, feel free to call me up and I will join you! :-)
Last week I had the great privilege of leading 9 youth from church to the Great Escape youth conference at Western Carolina with my friend, Keith. It was awesome once again! We enjoyed jamming out to the Jeff Chandler worship band, and hearing speakers like Ben Glenn, (the chalk guy), and Jeffrey Dean. Ben Glenn is an artist and speaker who has embraced his ADHD-ness and has realized that he has been blesssed with many abilities that many "normal" people don't have. He speaks to schools, teachers, churches, and brings messages of hope, faith, and accomplishing your goals. Ben draws amazing chalk prints on canvas, and watching him do this is amazing in and of itself. Whether you have ADHD or not, I encourage you to check out his website.
http://www.simpleadhdexpert.com/. You can also watch him draw on Youtube if you type in Ben Glenn. It's really something remarkable....he's not just your average artist. Again, we had a great time of fellowship, and fun on the Tuckaseegee River, and enjoying each other and God's creation, but most importantly, we were there to worship and interact with our Creator. His presence was there with us in a STRONG way, and there were many commitments made for Christ last week! As we were sharing, one girl said, "Miss Emily, I always knew Jesus loved me, but tonight I felt it." And one of our boys remarked, "When I used to talk to God, I knew in my heart he listened because I know my parents told me he listened, but tonight and this week when I've talked to Him, it's like he's sitting right there in front of me like you are and it's like he's my neighbor. I know He is listening to me know and He's talking to me too!" Amen! It gives me goosebumps to be in a place where God is really working and tearing down walls and loving on kids. It was a special week!
I began celebrating the 4th early, by taking my mom to the outdoor symphony show and fireworks on Friday. I finally got to go to church this Sunday, and hear our new preacher. It was so good to see everyone, and sing hymns like God Bless America, and My Country Tis of Thee. They really mean so much more when you live outside of this great place. I really sing every word now, unlike when I was younger, and I was just singing a song. The words are real and alive. We do live in a sweet land of liberty, and when I think back to all our forefathers established for us, I am truly thankful. We complain a lot, and our country is certainly not perfect, but we live in a land where there are so many opportunities and promises to be had for everyone, not just a select elite. And we are free to voice our opinions and spout off about stuff, and not run the risk of being arrested, or worse. And we can go to church and worship and live beside others who we disagree with, and thats ok. Too often, we take these unseen freedoms for granted. I know the economy is bad, and the oil spill is enormous and devastating, and people are out of work, but let's not forget all we have to be thankful for...all the things we are blessed with each day just cause we were born in the USA. Anyways, yesterday we enjoyed swimming at my aunt Leesa's, and I got to hang out with the baby ALL DAY cause his parents were working. We had a blast! We swam for a couple hours, then I chased him up and down the stairs, until he wore us both out.
It feels good to be home!
