Moving Forward

I’m spending the summer in Hudson, Wisconsin which is just over the river that separates Wisconsin from Minnesota. I’ll be making many trips across the river throughout the summer, spending time with friends, working, and exploring this new place I’m venturing to call home.

I’m staying at a friend’s house all summer. A Kenyan family lives across the street. I just met the father, Gilbert. We exchanged a few words in Swahili and then switched over to English. At one point in our conversation he said:

Once you go to Africa, some dust gets in your lungs which you

are never able to remove, no matter how hard you try.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Africa, especially East Africa, has worked itself into my heart and dirtied my lungs with its sweet, raw dust. Africa will always have a special place in my life.

God, in His great way, has turned my heart from East Africa, for the time being. He has made it possible for me to leave and it doesn’t hurt so badly this time.

I’m learning what it means to commit to something or someone or someplace.

God has drawn me back to this region of the United States and He is giving me what I need to commit to it.

The scooter/military truck accident occurred three weeks ago today. The accident redefined my final days in Rwanda and I had reason to be bitter about it. The accident redefined my initial days in America and I had reason to not reenter well. But I did leave well and I did reenter well. The accident revealed another side of Americans that I had never seen before. I drove through 11 states to get up to Minnesota and in each state I experienced kindness. I encountered many people who were willing to hold the door for me, or make me as comfortable as possible. As I hobbled around on my crutches and sported my stylish knee brace, people looked for ways to help me.

The kindness of complete strangers softened my heart toward this country and broke down walls and stereotypes.

I’m thankful for God’s kindness to me. He allowed the accident to happen and protected both Adam and me from anything too serious or fatal. However, He allowed me to get just enough injured so that I could experience the kindness of Americans. He brought friends into my life and then, just for fun, He brought me to a house with a Kenyan family across the street. 

I can breathe just as deeply here as a I do in Africa. I can allow my lungs to be filled with the dusts of Minnesota and let it work its way into my heart. I can commit to it. I can allow it to be my new home.