recapping..reflecting...concluding

So...I'm sitting here...procrastinating...I should be packing my bags and getting ready to go...because (break out in song....clear throat..aahhum...do re me...) I'M LEAVING...ON A JET PLANE, don't know when I'll be back again!

Africa has been (a)...

Thunderstorm

Challenge

Dream

Sunrise

Beauty

Wonder

Delight

Heartache

Smile

Hymn of praise


Brokenness

Plate of matooke


Mirror


It's been the best of times and the worst of times


Dance

New birth

Questions


Bare toes in the red mud

New Rhythm


A cow chase


Gift

Personal Conflict


Forced Academia


Pineapple on a hot day


Good conversation over milk tea

Window


Surprise


Green house


Goat wheelie


Desert


Spring


A colorful woven mat upon which a daughter kneels

I came to Africa wanting Uganda to somehow “permeate my soul,” without really knowing what that would mean or look like in my life. And now I prophesy that my time here will never escape me. In one form or another I will carry this semester, and these experiences with me in all that I do for the rest of my life. Though that sounds rather grandiose, this semester has shaped my heart and shifted my global perspective, so that I will never again the Erin that came off the plane one dark and humid Ugandan night in January. Rewind...I have great ambitions of being this new changed somebody who experienced a piece or two of Africa..and though I hope to live in greater gratitude, to practice deeper hospitality, to implement simplicity everyday, to be intentional about interceding for the world (and to be better informed), to dance more, to make relationships amongst life's most brilliant priorities, et cetera, I am much still me and life is still life. People are still people and we are all caught in this cosmic realm of humanity, pain, suffering, atrocity, redemption, beauty and wonder.This time has been incredible...it has been a rush and a fun ride (boda boda style)...thank you my dears ones for riding with me. As I go now to pack my bags...as I think of actually leaving, really leaving those I said good-bye to today...I want to curl up in a ball and as I have wanted to do much of this semester....I want to cry into the earth as I dig my hands into the earth. I haven't actually done this..but oh how I want to weep and literally pour my heart into this land. Pray for me as I go, as I leave a piece of my heart here (okay...I know it is cliche, but anyway). Oh my Uganda, oh my heart.

*Flying for a little entourage in Europe for a few weeks and then I'll be home (May 26th) and I'm eager to catch up with you all and hear your stories of these past few months! I love you and miss you...and as hard as it is to comprehend leaving...I am excited to see your beautiful, shining faces! Weraba!