One Day at a Time

The weather is much too beautiful to spend the day inside. It’s like a perfect spring day. I’m currently sitting outside on my front porch on this lovely Sunday afternoon. A warm breeze is sweeping across the city and causing the wisps of hair around my face and neck to stick out more than normal. The rains are coming. We’ve had a thunderstorm every few days and so the air and the view are beginning to clear up. I have a pretty clear view across the valley today of the various dirt roads and houses. Kigali is a truly beautiful place. 

The view from our front porch

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already completed our first month. Only nine months remaining.  Only nine more months of high school. Only nine more months of my life in Rwanda. Only nine more months with my family until I embark on my own journey. 


Life stays pretty consistent here: school every day, homework every night, church every Sunday. And so the routine goes. Last year when we first arrived I had loads of things to blog about because everything was new and different. This time, everything is familiar and normal. Walking by people with several large pieces of lumber stacked on their head or having a man pass you on a bicycle with a hundred dozen eggs strapped on the back is no longer a strange sight. 

Jeremy came to visit us this afternoon. Some of you may remember Jeremy from our video this summer. Jeremy is a Rwandan man who lost his leg in a moto accident three years ago. He walks around on crutches. He loves Jesus and he loves to play the guitar and sing about Jesus. He is slowly learning English just like we are slowly learning Kinyarwanda. He and I sat and talked for a while this afternoon. Sometimes we talked in Kinyarwanda and other times in English. He shared several Bible verses in Kinyarwanda and I read them in English and he sang/played the guitar for us. We had not seen him since May so it was good to catch up. At the end of our time today he prayed for us in Kinyarwanda. (Isn't it interesting how God is fluent in all languages? He hears every prayer - English, Kinyarwanda, Portuguese...whatever it may be, because He knows our hearts. What an awesome God we have!) We look forward to many more times with Jeremy. 

I’ve continued to walk the fifty minute (or so) walk to church every Sunday. Each week I have a new person with me. I went alone the first week, then my mother joined me, last week Adam and I walked together, and today my whole family came along. Sometimes I walk because I have to. Today, for example, we all had to walk to church because we don’t have a car. (Yes, we are still looking and praying for a car.) Other times I walk for pleasure. Like yesterday I wandered around on dirt roads for an hour. (Believe it or not, it’s really hard to get lost on dirt roads- they all sort of lead to each other.) For me, walking is the time I feel closest to God. It’s the time that I talk to Him about absolutely everything and more times than not, it’s the time that I hear back from Him. Walking has become a very important part of my routine. 

My heart longs for North Carolina. I’m having a hard time letting go of my life in North Carolina and fully embracing my life in Rwanda. I do love living here, especially on days like today when everything is positively gorgeous, but, I can’t help but think about my family and friends and my life that I’m not living in North Carolina. If I’m not careful it can overtake me and I can spend hours only thinking of what I’m missing. Like last week for example, I cried off and on all day for three days in a row. I just couldn’t seem to get a hold of myself. Yes, I’m homesick. That does not give me a reason to be constantly sad though. I need the Lord to give me joy. It is possible for me to be homesick and joyful at the same time. I choose to be joyful.  With the help of the Lord, and hopefully some faithful prayer partners, I will overcome this homesickness. I’ve been reading Amy Carmichael’s biography. She was an English missionary who went to Japan, Sri Lanka, and ultimately, India. She battled fevers and various ailments and homesickness but she was joyful because she was serving the Lord. She shared His love with the people and nothing made her more delighted. 

Natalie, my spiritual mentor and dear friend has been positively wonderful to me. She referred to herself as my big sister the other day, which of course brought a smile to my face because I’ve always wanted a sister. As most of you will remember, we memorized the book of Colossians last semester. We’ve decided to memorize James this semester. I’m so thankful for her as a friend/sister and a spiritual accountability partner. 
I wouldn’t be able to make it through this year without her. 

The other week I posted a picture on facebook of some baskets I had purchased at the market. My dad suggested that people may be curious about what the rest of my room looks like…

Standing in the doorway- my desk, with the market baskets above, my wardrobe with numerous Bible verses and daisies, and my left curtain that was purchased here at a fabric market.

Standing in front of my desk – my bed with my bedspread from Target and my right curtain (see how nicely it matches my bedspread?) Notice the wall décor - also from Target and the I Love Lucy picture from a dear friend.

Standing in front of my wardrobe- Jane Austin quotes on the wall and my bookshelf. Favorite people in frames on the top shelf and favorite books on the second shelf. 

That’s my room. Full of color and all my favorite things. I’m so thankful for my room because I have my own personal space. At our other house we were very crowded and although I had my own room I didn’t really feel like I had my own “space.” Now I have space and I am very grateful. 

If I think about the year as a whole or if I think about missing home I get overwhelmed. I just need to take things one day at a time. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life…But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:25 & 33-34) I don’t need to have everything all figured out, in fact, I don’t have it all figured out. God knows. He’s in control. He knows what the rest of this year will look like, He knows the desires of my heart, and He knows the plans for the future. As long as I take things one day at a time and keep relying on Him I’ll make it.