unpacking.

The challenge of unpacking.

Not my bags, I did that within the hour I got home. But unpacking everything that just happened in the past two months. I feel like I kept getting hit without time to get back up and now that I am home I have the mighty task of unpacking the events of the summer.

Looking back, I can't believe all the things that happened. My life in South Africa is a completely different world than here and its weird to step from one world to another in a day. Its shocking really. So now I am sitting here in all this down time wondering what on earth just happened and how it affects who I am today. What were the struggles, the challenges and the joys? What did I learn and what do I need to learn now? All questions I finally have the time to ask myself. So keep me in your prayers as I try to unpack this all.

dirt.

Lately I have been realizing how much dirt is a part of life here. It doesn’t matter if you shower in the morning you end up with so much dirt on you. The kids are covered in it. The cars are covered in it. Oh my goodness you can sweep the whole tile house and within hours there is a layer of dirt again. I wash it out of my hair, shake it out of my shoes, and just let it reside in my nails.

I'm starting to see the symbolism with the dirt, though. It's a pretty thick layer that covers this life, but when you take the time to get beneath the dirt and brush some of it away you can fully see the beauty here. I think we all have these dirt layers over us, but amidst the suffering here, the dirt is literal.

I'm beginning to think that there is no way that the people here could learn as much from me as I have learned from them. People at home think of me coming here as something so noble, but the truth is that I benefit the most from it. When you take the time to get beneath the surface you see this deep rooted faith and richness of life that is experienced despite the grave circumstances. I've learned more from these people and friends than I could have ever imagined. It just takes brushing off some dirt and you've got some real treasure.