Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Journal Entry from Africa

After college, I spent 2 years in Kenya. I loved it!! This is an entry from my journal that a friend wanted to read, so I figured I'd post it... enjoy.


Mt. Kilimanjaro is a beautiful thing I’ve heard. I can’t tell you for certain. I’ve never actually seen it with my own two eyes. I must admit that there is a touch of jealousy in me. In the 2+ years that I’ve lived in East Africa, I have passed that mountain at least 12 times. It’s always too cloudy, or too dark, or I’m simply in the back seat asleep. For whatever reason, I have yet to behold the glory of Kilimanjaro.

There are people on this mission trip with me that have spent a grand total of 2 ½ weeks in Tanzania who have seen Kilimanjaro… more than once. It just doesn’t seem fair. Deep down though, I know that I could see it if I really wanted to. I could just sit at the base of the mountain until the clouds pass, or wait in anticipation for the sun to rise, or simply wake up from my slumber in the back seat and open my eyes. The best way to see the mountain though, is to grab your gear and start climbing.

It’s funny how we can be the same way with God. Some people start the Christian life knowing that they are going to be in it for the long haul, so they think that there is no real need to rush to see and do everything. There is plenty of time. Their view of God may be clouded (by the things they busy themselves with), or dark (because of the sin in their lives), or perhaps they are just in the back seat sleeping (while others around them are telling them what to believe or how do live). Then there are those who are so excited about their new faith that they rush to see, taste, feel, hear, and experience every bit of God that they can at every moment that they can.

Many of us are like I am with Kili, we want to see the beauty of God, but we want Him to be visible whenever we happen to pass by. Some of us need to just sit still at His feet and wait for the clouds to pass so that we can see Him more clearly. Some of us just need to hold on for a few short hours until the dawn comes with the Son and pierces the darkness. Some of us need to get off our backsides and simply open our eyes and look at Him. Just as the best way to see the mountain is to climb it, the best way to see the glory of God is to grab our gear and seek after Him with all of our hearts. Scripture tells us that if we drawn near to Him, He will drawn near to us.

You know, I have always thought that Mt. Kilimanjaro is a nice place, but my friends that have been up that mountain… they love it.

4 comments:

  1. Beautiful! (I thought Nana Y. was going to climb it with you, heehee!) Thank you for posting this. I love you! (This is LindsAy, I don't know why it won't post with my real name.)

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  2. Nana and Mom saw Mt Kilimanjaro looking down from above and it was awsome.....I guess God figured we wouldn't be mountain climbing or seeing anything from the backseat except the absolute madness called Nirobi, Kenya. Oh, I need to mention we were in a plane, that God (thank you Lord) had us bumped up to first class.

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  3. Err.... Mom, you were supposed to NEVER use the phrase "first class" again. You are in so much trouble... :P

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