2,922 days later

It's been 8 years.

8 years since we got off the plane at the very-much-under-construction airport. 8 years since Kristen and I waited for the last box of supplies to arrive at the baggage claim and to realize there were no more carts to help us transport 4 huge suitcases and 4 large Rubbermaid containers. 8 years since my first glimpse of Jamie's wide smile and Jolly's sly humor.

In some ways it feels like so much longer than 8 years. My Luo language skills have long since vanished and I wouldn't be able to tell you the names of any traditional Acholi dances. In other ways, it's like it was yesterday. I still remember the taste of morning tea and cassava, served with Annette's sweet smile. I can hear the bells from the church across of the intern house and feel the wind from the back of a boda boda. My heart still warms when I see the pictures of my friends on Facebook and wonder how their children can be growing so quickly when we all still look the same.

Time is a strange thing.

I'll be forever grateful to Invisible Children for taking a chance on a girl who hadn't yet crossed the Atlantic and letting her experience life alongside their amazing staff. (I still laugh when I think about the application video that I submitted - I think I actually have a copy somewhere...) So much of who I am today is because of the amazing experience of living in Gulu. 

I've said it again and again, but it's so true. I'm so in awe of this life I've gotten to live. The grace upon grace that I've received. The people I've known, the smiles I've seen and the love I've felt. 

The past 8 years have been full of highs and lows (of course- it's life! :)) I'm still learning to discern God's voice from my own desires. To love recklessly and to give fearlessly. To ignore feelings of guilt, but to learn and abide by my feelings of conviction. To live a life of adventure with God and to invite others along to see His Joy, Grace and Mercy abound.

Here's to the next 8!