A decade ago

 A Decade Ago

My feet touched Kenyan soil. I was jet-lagged but exuberant. I had a dream when I was 11 that as I walked down a red dirt road a little girl approached me shyly and grabbed my hand. I woke up and knew that someday I would go to Kenya. 

After a couple of weeks of orientation and language lessons, I found myself walking down a rural red dirt road. My friend and I walked slowly through the misty air and vibrant greens. As we walked children shyly looked up and to my surprise, a little girl grasped my hand, just like my dream.

Those 90 days in Kenya were transformative. I learned so much from the people I met, the lives I got a glimpse of, and the way I reacted and responded on a different continent. It humbled me and shook me out of my western bubble. It wasn’t about me “going over there” as much as it was about learning and sharing. Being open to having my worldview challenged. To see my life and my history as one sliver of a vast story. To be grateful and to be open to new ideas and ways of living. 

Today I find myself in a temporary apartment in Texas. My theme for 2022 is Embark in Faith. The timing of this anniversary is not lost on me. The significance and reminder of fulfilled dreams that seemed to tary. A lot of life and losses have happened in the decade since my feet hit those soil. Family loss, career changes, global upheaval, and a cross-country move (and that’s just in the last two years).

As I look back on who I was that day, I’m grateful. Twenty-four-year-old-me was adventurous, intentional, and open. She trusted that God would lead her, provide for her, and equip her each day. I never set an alarm in Nairobi, and I never overslept. Amazingly I slept and woke with rhythm and ease. I don’t want to glamorize the time. The culture shock was real, I needed a dose of humility and perspective. I needed to know that it’s not about me being indispensable but that I can accept invitations. The choice to go out of my comfort zone. To really listen and learn from people who see the world differently than me. That we all want to be seen, understood, have safety, and pursue dreams. 

So today I remember. The lady who showed me sacrificial hospitality- probably spending a week’s wages to have us for lunch. How I wish I had responded differently to a vendor who stole my money at a market, the thunder of children playing football. I think of songs around campfires, the view of the Great Rift Valley, and the feel of a rough giraffe tongue. I think about laughter around dinner tables and prayers hurled up to a star-filled sky. I see the faces of friends from around the world, the child I met born HIV positive, and the proud smirk of a child who read more than they could the day before. I think about my walks around the markets, the cheeky monkeys stealing fruit, the way home wasn’t a place but a state of mind. 

I think back on those months and am encouraged for this season. I don’t know where I’ll be living or working a month from now. But I know that the same God who provided for me a decade ago is still working today. I know that I will meet new people, find new passions, and look back on this day in a decade with perspective. 

10 years ago I embarked in faith, and that legacy is still being worked out today.