Mo’s Marathon (life’s a journey…not a sprint)

Is it seriously July already??? Where has the time gone…I’ve already been in the states for almost a month now. WOW!

My home church, Res LIfe, is hosting the youth conference, Desperation, this weekend.  My mom works at the church, and she asked me if I wanted to come help and volunteer. How could I say no to that?  Today I was able to sit in on some of the worship time (which was awesome, I might add.)  Jared Anderson, who is one of the leaders of the band, is amazing. Its one thing to rock out to his CD’s driving to a village in the middle of nowhere in Botswana, but its a whole other ball game to hear them live.  Its one of the things I soooo missed in Africa…live worship! Needless to say, I was really blessed being able to enjoy some of the day and night listening and participating in the music.  

Seeing the youth jumping around, singing, and dancing reminded me of our youth group, Fire by Night, in Botswana.  We would sing and dance to music (CD’s) during our Friday night services.  It made me realize how blessed America is to have these huge conferences, concerts, speakers etc. available pretty much everywhere.  But, it also reminded me that God is the same everywhere we go.  Whether its in a huge youth conference or under a tent in the Kalahari Desert, His presence is wherever we are and call upon Him.  All the strobe lights, amps, musical instruments, stages, and sound effects are nice (don’t get me wrong; I love all that); but they’re not necessary.  Thats what’s so incredible!  You can experience God’s love through a loud, booming concert or the gentle whisper of the wind.  Awesome!

I’m back to watching Alias again, and this time I’ve sucked 2 more people into my addiction…my sister and nephew.  We rented season 3 the other day, and last night started watching it.  I had to quickly catch them up on seasons 1 and 2, but after that we were off and running.  We stayed up late watching the first 2 discs, and would have watched more if it weren’t for tiredness creeping in.  Now my nephew is all about running around with his Nerf guns shooting anything he can, Alias style (or so he claims).  Hiding behind walls, creeping around the house, guns in hands, and singing the background music.  We are in full training mode here!

Today, June 20th, is World Refugee Day.  My heart breaks for refugees all over the world, who are growing in number each day.  There are literally millions of people living as refugees in other countries, far from family and loved ones or even separated from their families entirely.  There is so much more we can be doing for these people, and educating ourselves about the problem is the first step.  Please take just a moment out of your day to say a prayer for them and check out the UN Refugee site for more information. It only takes a small, kind gesture of love to change a life.

My mom finally got her horses.  She’s wanted them since, well…forever.  She now has 2 horses, Tember and Chewy.  Chewy is still a baby, so he has some growing to do before anyone rides him; for now its only Timber we can ride.  The other day we tried him out, just to get him used to us and us to him.  Here are some pics:

And of course, Tasha (our dog) was making sure all was well, watching from outside the fence.

Today was my first time driving in the states since I got back home.  Its been almost 2 years of driving on the opposite side of the road in the opposite side of the car.  You would think that since I pretty much drove my whole life on the right hand side that it would come back to me easily…. you would think.

My brother and I drove to get petrol and Taco Bell and his exact words were, “you’re going to kill us.”  I had a couple of momentarily lapses when I just instinctively turned onto the other side of the road.  Oops!  I also kept hitting the windshield wipers for the turn signal, since the bar is also on the opposite side of the steering wheel.

But, we made it home safely and now I’m ready to tackle the lanes again!

I am already being asked by many what my favorite or most memorable Africa experience has been.  As I sit and reflect back, its difficult to just pick one or two. There are so many wonderful, incredible things that happened, so I decided to pick my top 10.  I have blogged about some of them, but feel free to go back and enjoy the memories with me again.  Here goes… Letterman style:

10. My trip to Cape Town:  Mountains, Ocean, Beaches, Penguins…awesome!

9. Grocery shopping with Rishelle for Teen Mania.  500 loaves of bread, kg’s and kg’s of rice, mealie-pap,  and lots and lots of shopping carts.  We had some great laughs. 

8. Safari’s: elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras…I never get tired of seeing these amazing creatures.

7. Easter Conference in Namibia: traveling with youth on a mission trip…you’re only asking for awesome memories there.

6. The houseworkers asking for Bible’s: I will never forget the look on their faces and the bond we experienced that day.

5. Hungry, Hungry Hippos:  If you don’t remember the story, click here.  Personally, I will NEVER forget it!

4. My time at the Refugee Camp in Dukwe:  It was my first experience at a Refugee camp, and one that changed my heart for refugees.  

3. The summer of breakdowns:  From the outreach trucks to R2, there wasn’t a moment that someone wasn’t on the side of a road out in the bush; while sleeping there in the middle of the migration pattern with Teen Mania kids had to top it off…. which leads me to #2

2. Rat in the gastank:  This has to be one of the all time great stories of breakdowns.

1. Samaritan’s Purse Day:  An image that will stay with me forever.  Seeing thousands of kids opening up their shoeboxes filled with small tokens and the smiles on their faces.  Priceless!  

My parents are not coffee drinkers (I know…the horror!).  Last night I spent the night at their house instead of my sisters, not putting this non-coffee drinking into account.  So, today when I was the only one at the house, with no transportation at all, it hit me.  I had no coffee!!!!  I tried to make it work, but I was sluggish and tired all morning, with a headache looming in the background.  Needless to say, it was not a fun day…

My mom brought me a cup home, but not till 3pm.  I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it. We then went to the store and I bought a coffee pot, a grinder, and some coffee.  You know you’re in trouble when the first things you buy, coming back to the states, are items relating to your addiction.   Shame!

I made it home, safe and sound!  The 20 hour flight from Africa was PACKED, so not much sleep occurred. When I got to Atlanta 2 friends of mine, Reggie and LV, picked me up and we hung out at Starbucks in the city. It was so great to get out of the airport and spend time with them (even though it was brief).  My flight from Atlanta to Detroit was only 1 1/2 hours long, which seemed like a blink of an eye compared to the Africa one.  

My sister picked me up in Detroit and we came home to my entire family waiting for me.  YES, my entire family, even my youngest sister, Bec.  We had a cookout, played Movie Scene It; and I was soooo ready for bed after that.  

Its a bit surreal being back home, and I sorta feel a bit out of place.  I am adjusting to life back in America…but that will have to be a whole separate blog.  

Thanks so much for all your prayers while I was traveling!  Its good to be back

Yeah!  Finally, another survey… In honor of traveling home and the fact that I won’t have internet for a couple of days, I am giving you time to get your votes in.  This one is for all you international travelers (and if you haven’t traveled internationally, then domestic travelers) to put in your 2 cents.

So, one of my favorite airport experiences is when you finally get through customs and you are walking through the airport and smell the wonderous, Cinnabon.  Mmmmm, my mouth is watering already.  I have been in a lot of airports, all over, but there is nothing like getting back to the States to have a Starbucks coffee and a Cinnabon.  Then you know you’re back to the land of fast foods!

Tell me… what is the one thing in the airport that you look forward to when you finally reach home after traveling?  Vote! Vote! Vote! (sleep doesn’t count…we all look forward to that)