A Point Halfway
As of tomorrow evening around 9 in the p.m. I will have officially been in Sierra Leone eight weeks. I've heard the phrase "Americans have the watches, but Africans have the time." I haven't worn a watch in years, yet I'm not so good at having time. A wise man once said, "Life moves fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
In an attempt to look around, I have begun a new season of pondering life. Why am I here again? What am I doing? How can I best serve my team, the Lighthouse folks, and others here in Freetown? How have things affected me? Has anything changed about me? How do I now see life? Why am I so selfish? What things have I done here made me come alive? What is next in life? How do I think about the future and be present here and now? Who shot JR?
These are (mostly) important questions. The things I've experienced, relationships I've established, and the thoughts I've had will be fodder lessons years into the future. There is not enough time to ponder all that comes my way while I am here, yet I am attempting to get a jump start on processing my experience. If necessary, I want to redirect my paths or jump on new ones in an attempt to get the most out of my remaining two months.
So if you have a question that would help me process my experience here, please send it my way. I will share them with my team as we all take a few steps back and think about our first two months here.
Things I've learned during my first 8 weeks:
- I like: good laughs, deep conversations, frozen yogurt, coconut, walking, a cool breeze at night, nighttime rain
- The mirror of a poda poda will give way if it hits you as you walk
- Said mirror might hurt as it gives way
- Duct tape is just as important on the other side of the world, if not more so.
- Palm oil just might be evil.
- Electricity is really optional for life, though it is still very welcome.
- The headlamp is one of the greatest inventions in the world.
- If a white man goes to a culture that has three different words that mean "white man," he will hear them pretty much everywhere.
- God is good and faithful and patient and forgiving
- Email is a really amazing invention. Gmail makes email even more amazing.
- I enjoy a good beer more than I thought (no spirits for me while I'm here)
- Emails and comments from good friends make me feel loved