This morning we got to face time my friends Andrew and Diana with their daughter Ellie!! The kids were so excited to see her! Please pray they get to come home very soon!
I remember my first trip to Africa! It was unexplainable! It was hard to put into words! Andrew actually wrote a song called beautiful exhaustion! Here is how he describes the song and the meaning behind it.
in the winter of 2008, i laid down in my bed in a hotel in Africa after one of the most amazing days of my life spent with the people of Kandaria, Kenya doing life and learning from one another the true meaning of unconditional love. 8000 miles from home, I struggled to find words to send home to tell my wife and others of all that had transpired over the 24 hours since our arrival.
the physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion was extreme, but in the middle of it there was this incredible satisfaction. the experience of the day and all of the images were overwhelming but exactly what my soul longed for. the excitement of new relationships, the visual strain of abject poverty, the resilience of a people unfazed by circumstance and seemingly full of joy and hope, the differences of our cultures muted by the existence of something greater... or should i say, SomeOne greater: a SAVIOR, a HEALER, a RESTORER, a CHRIST, a SPIRIT that fellowshipped between us and shattered language barriers and conquered insecurities. the excitement of a 70 year old blind woman who had waited for years to see changes come for her community, the mixed emotions of heartbreak and compassion while holding a smiling 3 year old with AIDS who had no idea what the future days would hold.
as i lay there i knew, regardless of my physical, mental, emotional fatigue that i was right in the middle of a GOD MOVE and i wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else and i wanted THIS ... whatever it was ... for the rest of my life. the hunger, the yearning, the satisfaction, the exhaustion, the feeling of being totally poured out and used up, but used up for the cause of THE ONE.
the words i sent home trying to tell this incredible story of God at work in me and all around me were simply titled ‘THE BEAUTIFUL EXHAUSTION’. later the lyrics for the song were penned and have become the prayer my wife Diana and i pray for ourselves, our children, and every living breathing soul. that we could be lost in the beautiful exhaustion of a life totally poured out in response to a savior and his great salvation of us. i pray that we all find ourselves in the beautiful
exhaustion for the rest of our lives. for His fame...
exhaustion for the rest of our lives. for His fame...
I've thought about how exhausted Diana and Andrew must be with travel, trying to figure out how long they will be there, and missing their 3 here. They are living out their dream that God laid
on their hearts and prayer 6 years ago! I hope when someone looks back at my life they can say..... She ran her race well!!
Funny today: being tooth fairy for the first time and Will seeing a mustang being driven by an older lady and he says, "breeze, you know why old people have nice cars.... Because they don't have to spend all their money on their kids!"
No comments:
Post a Comment