Thursday, May 24, 2007

Nikole: Final Post- Lasting Impressions

I can't believe that my time here is quickly coming to an end. It feels as though I have only just begun. The thing is that I really have only just begun the work that God has planned for me.

Most children yearn to watch their saturday morning cartoons but when I was a little girl, I was watching the World Vision commercials with tears rolling down my face. This being my second time in Kenya, I am positive that God gave me a heart for Africa for a reason. The minute I stepped off the plane just over 3 weeks ago, I felt instantly at home, and during my time here, my love for this nation has immensley increased. I know that my love affair with Africa will be long lived.

Here are some of the little things I will miss most when I leave:
- the sound of 50 children sipping chai at 6:30am
- waiting at the end of the road for hugs from the children as they return from school
- having to watch out for the cows as you walk over to the children's home
- the dirt that sticks under your fingernails after peeling 100 potatoes
- goosebumps during devotions
- having 2 arms sqeeze around your waist as if God made you curvy for that very reason
- the children wanting you to read to them at night, then when you finally find a book and start reading, they couldn't seem less interested
- asking one child "how are you?" and he or she answering "We are fine"
- laying under the mosquito net knowing that it is probably the only bug-free zone you will find
- knowing that it is time to wake up when the birds start chirping
- praying for the children every night as they slip into their beds

God loves me. He loves you. He loves all of us. God is so good.
It's simple yet so wonderful, so amazing, so extravagant, so fulfilling.

This is it for now. Only God knows when I will be back in Ilula.

May God bless you Big!
Nikole (Jebet) MacGregor

No comments: