One year in Kenya

"The world breaks everyone,
and afterwards many are strong in the broken places."

-Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

We just recently hit a significant milestone: the one year anniversary of our time here in Nairobi.

One year.

A year of struggles and surprises. A year that we are relieved to have survived. A year that would've broken anyone, I believe. We broke. We are stronger.

Of course, we sat down and made lists. We listed everything that we had struggled through; all the bad and the ugly. We marveled at how, each time, we were never left alone; how great Love walked with us through each trial.

Then Samuel took a stone
and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.
He named it Ebenezer,
saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

-1 Samuel 7:12

There is something important in stopping. In remembering. In raising a stone, an Ebenezer, so as not to forget. The old hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, is so appropriate in times like these.

I know. Who is this? Quoting old hymns and (below) the oh so popular book of Lamentations? This is a person, a family, who has suffered much, and yet. And yet has felt much Love through it all.

This is not a cry for pity or a way to wallow in grief. We are stronger. We have some perspective. We took a huge leap of faith and it was answered--but never in the ways we expected it to be. We still have so many unknowns, so many "why are we here"s, so many questions unanswered. We are still waiting for many things. 

But now, looking back, we can see how our decision to move here has been confirmed in ways big and small. New friends, supportive colleagues, the blessing of Cecily, our stronger family. The only way that we've been able to see these blessings, however, has been to go through the difficulties of the past year. And in the midst of the storms, we have often been unaware of (or have disregarded) all of the good things that we've been blessed with this year. It's in the reflection, in the stopping and looking back, that we can see them.

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed..."

-Lamentations 3:22

How often, in the everyday of life do we stop and look to see how far we've come? To see what we've overcome? To celebrate the fact that we have not been consumed?

Here's to loving Africa. Even when it doesn't love you back. To weaver birds and 25 shades of green. To following a dream even when it still isn't clear where it's taking you, or why. To doing hard things. To trusting God. To sticking together as a family. To unexpected surprises. To possibility.

Here's to you, for walking this journey alongside us. We are blessed and so very grateful.