In August I got the opportunity to work in a hospital in Rwanda for a couple of weeks with my best friend. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Rwanda is a beautiful country, filled with beautiful people, and I have some pretty amazing memories. Being able to serve people is a blessing, but when these people, who have absolutely nothing, only want to serve you....humbled is the right word.
Seeing the world gets a massive YES from me, but I won't lie, I got a little freaked out about travelling through not one, but three huge airports without my parents! (Yes, I'm pretty sheltered). That would have been enough to cope with, but a week before we flew I got some bad news. The kind of news you do not see coming, and hits you like a tonne of bricks.
As I boarded that flight out of Manchester Airport nobody would have blamed me for being terrified. But I wasn't. I've never felt peace like it. In fact, I had been like that the whole week before. I was confused myself, wondering why I wasn't crying myself to sleep or eating my weight in ice cream, but all I knew was that God knew what he was doing. Turns out that's all I needed to know.
Aside from all the things I got to see and and do in Rwanda, one of my favourite memories happened every morning, when I got up at 6 am to spend time with my Father. I would grab a jumper (the mornings were surprisingly cool) and cosy up in the little lounge, trying to avoid the geckos that were our uninvited roomies. And each morning God ministered to my heart, teaching me and loving me, and giving me peace over a situation I had no control over.
As I read back over the journal I wrote when I was out there, I read again and again about thankfulness and trust. He taught me to trust Him moment by moment, asking Him to show me the next step instead of rushing into it by myself, and He taught me to thank Him over and over, for even though the 'big' things didn't seem to be working out, He had still given me hundreds of things to be thankful for each day, whether that was listening to the beautiful church choir or the courage to jump into Lake Kivu from a big old cliff!
It's kind of funny that God had to take me all the way to Africa to teach me these basic lessons, but since I've come home I've realised how easy it is to slip back into old habits. Home in England, I have everything I need and more, and it's easy to want 'more, more, more' rather than see all the good things He has already given. It's been SO good to look back and remember what I learnt out there.He IS all that I will ever need. What freedom to live in that knowledge, to live in surrender to the King of Kings, knowing He is Sovereign. What freedom to delight in each day, knowing He has filled it with blessings and trusting that He is the rock we can stand on whenever those punch-you-in-the-gut troubles come along. What a Saviour!
P.s, Today I'm thankful for this precious girl, Janet. Look at that smile!
