Rainbows on the Way

I'm sitting on the cool terrazzo floor at the Witt's house, drinking my fourth nalgene full of water today and instantaneously sweating it out, and thanking Jesus that I'm finally home!


No matter how physically uncomfortable I am in this moment, the contentment I have because I'm where supposed to be makes it worth it...ok, I still have a headache and feel like a sloth, but I know that stuff will pass once I adjust to the climate change.  In Nairobi it's about 60, rainy and cold (for Africa), and here it's around 100 degrees and sunny, so it'll take a bit for my body to catch up with the 'glad to be back' party.  


Yesterday as we drove away from Nairobi, we saw a rainbow in front of us over the road, and immediately I thought-that's for us!  It made me remember God's promise to Noah, his covenants with Israel, and the promises he has made me.  Jesus never said following him would be easy, but he did say this:  


"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."
"If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you."
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."
"I am with you always, even until the very end of the age."
"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men."
 "If two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."
"Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."
"your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."
"Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death."
"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done."


(I wish I could quote all those from memory, but I confess I used the internet :) Now you get to go figure out when he said all those things! lol)


As I looked at the rainbow, I thought...the road ahead isn't going to be smooth (very true, literally a rough road lol), but God is faithful and true to his word.  What he has planned for us, he will bring to fruition and we can rest knowing he does have a plan.  


I am confident that God has a good plan for not only my life, but more specifically my time in Gssa.  I have also learned from experience that it's foolish to glorify or romanticize missions, or for that matter, pretty much any part of life.  Pretending life is rosy colored only leads to dealing with disappointment on top of the harsh realities of life.  If I thought getting to wash clothes by hand again was going to be a blast, not only would I have to actually wash clothes by hand (not a very fun or exciting process, kind of tiring and annoying) but also have to come to terms with the bummer that it's not all I cracked it up to be.  


So I'm attempting to return with low expectations in some areas, high in others.  I highly expect that God is going to be close to me, provide for me, show me more about himself, and use me to advance his kingdom.  I do not expect to have adventures every day, love every moment I'm here, or solve the problem of illiteracy in a week.  I struggle with expecting big things in this community spiritually, mostly because of the history of God's kingdom among these cultures, which is a story for another time, and because I've seen how hard the ground still is.  From my perspective, there's a lot of work to still be done before the harvest happens...yet again, the Lord of the Harvest is the one who determines how fast plowing, sowing, watering and growing happen so for all I know the harvest could be right around the corner.  It's hard for me to pray with faith for that harvest when my practical, human eyes can't see it coming.  I pray for spiritual eyes to see it and to know how to pray!


It is absolutely wonderful to not feel cold, to have all the windows open and the breeze blowing through the house, to walk down a road not jammed with cars...in fact there were no cars...and most of all to feel like I'm home again.  As much as I've ever felt that way, anyway!  :)