Fun in the Sun

Me and my Hairstylists!

“I know our culture will sometimes understand a love for Jesus as weakness. There is this lie floating around that says I am supposed to be able to do life alone, without any help, without stopping to worship something bigger than myself. But I actually believe there is something bigger than me, and I need for there to be something bigger than me. I need someone to put awe inside me; I need to come second to someone who has everything figured out.”

-Donald Miller

We took the kids to the village soccer game and it was pretty boring for Corrinne and me, but it meant a lot to the kids. Basically we are the coolest thing since sliced bread.

 

 Hosea has really been opening up more and more this week. He has been in such good spirits, and so loveable. All the kids love hugs, love to hang all over us, but Hosea is one that doesn’t usually give first. This week I have gotten several hugs from him, and he sat in my lap outside in the grass for a while. It doesn’t sound like much, and it’s not like there is a lack of hugs here at Sunrise, but it just means something more coming from him; like he is really happy, like he feels comfortable, like he is wanted. 

 

“At flood tide, the Jordan River was approximately two hundred feet wide. That was all that separated the Israelites from their four-hundred-year-old promise; their dream was practically a stone’s throw away. But if the priests hadn’t stepped into the river, they may well have spent the rest of their lives on the eastern banks of the Jordan River. And that’s where many of us spend our lives. We’re so close to the dream, so close to the promise, so close to the miracle. But we’re waiting for God to part the river, while God is waiting for us to get our feet wet.”

-Draw the Circle (Day 7)

I am just amazed at how God is constantly working on my heart. One week I am so convinced that I could just pack up and head home, and the next week I am open to staying however long he asks. I have great ideas to Sunrise that I would love to see happen, and yet I haven’t made a move to make it happen. Then I got this crazy idea this week that maybe they aren’t my ideas, but God ideas. He has entrusted me with a vision for Sunrise, and all I have to do is act. All I have to do is take a step in faith, get my feet wet, and let him do the rest. 

One big idea that Corrinne and I have for the kids/Sunrise, is service projects. Saturday mornings are busy, but in the afternoon things are quieter and we think this would be the perfect day for our projects. Our first project, which we will be in a couple of weeks, is picking up trash on the main road. This sort of thing doesn’t exist in Tanzanian culture, and I think it’s so important to teach out kids about it. To teach them about giving back to their community, to teach them that loving people can be shown in many different ways, to make them so tired they go to bed early. =D

 This week has been one of the most beautiful weeks since I have been here. The sun has been shinning, the kids have all been wonderful and everyone is all smiles.We have pretty much spent hours outside this weekend. Not really doing anything but sitting in the sun with the kids. I love how God gives me these days, these moments with the kids that just fill me with so much. If I faithfully say yes, and give my heart to him, he always proves that he knows what's best for me. 

The Lord Appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”

Jeremiah 31:3