Photo-a-day: Feb 13

Y'all, please forgive me for failing at the photo-a-day thing, I've been sick the past few days...but praise the Lord I am feeling better today! Huge shoutout to my girl Britt for taking such wonderful care of me and being my stand in mama, nurse, and all around biffle when I was more or less unresponsive and super out of it! So thankful for her!

This past weekend we went camping at Fort Patiko- so good for my soul. It was about a 45 minute boda ride out to the campsite, with boda driver Tony as our fearless leader (he takes groups of mzungus out often). We arrived, accompanied by about 20 local children, and proceeded to scramble/climb up to the top of a big rock to watch the sunset. 

Sidenote- When we first arrived in Gulu, Britt played a little game with Em and I, asking us three questions- one of which was what is our favorite part of nature. Our answer, she told us later, showed how we perceived God and faith (not foolproof by any means, but still cool). My answer was the sunrise and the sunset, because every day they make me stop in my tracks. And that is pretty darn accurate- every day His faith and love and goodness makes me stop dead in my tracks and thank Him for those things that I don't deserve. Which is why I thought sitting on a huge rock on an African plain watching the sunset was SO COOL.

I'm on top of the world- AY!

It is so soothing to be outside, take a step back from our every day lives, and just be. It was refreshing to step outside of Gulu and run around and climb on rocks and play with the local kids and dance and laugh (ahem- more like I was dancing and they were laughing at me). It was just what I needed, though, to decompress and relax. We laid under the stars and just stared. We found constellations and planets, and it was so nice just to lay there and listen to the kids laughing and Tony talking and the fire crackling some feet away. 

"There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what He is doing. (They hang there, the stars, like notes on a page of music, free-form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz.) And as I lay there, it occurred to me that God is up there somewhere. Of course, I had always known He was, but this time I felt it, I realized it, the way a person realizes they are hungry or thirsty. The knowledge of God seeped out of my brain and into my heart. I imagined Him looking down on this earth, half angry because His beloved had cheated on Him, committed adultery, and yet hopelessly in love with her, drunk with love for her." -Donald Miller

Tell me this is not the most beautiful thing you have ever seen!

As we were sitting around the campfire, Tony started telling us stories of the war. It's not that I didn't really think about it- we see the effects of the war every day in the form of our women and our precious girls- but him talking about it made it seem very real. I will not repeat what he said- not that you have never heard it before, but is it glorifying to God to harp on the tragedy of this war? I think it is better to continue to focus on what He is doing in the aftermath- the healing, redeeming, and hope. It was still difficult to hear, because our women do not talk about it very often (if at all), nor do our girls. It was especially difficult when he started talking about some of the things they made children do- thankfully none of our girls were child soldiers, but children their age were. Imagine one of your children holding an AK-47 and pointing it at another human being. Nope, I can't either. But it happened. Thank you, Jesus, that it's over. And He will continue to heal this country and this people, so they may know their Heavenly Father and know they are loved beyond measure.

We got a little creative with headlamps and a long exposure on my camera and had waaaay too much fun with it :) We're already coming up with new ideas to do next time...

The next morning we woke up super early (not difficult when you are sleeping on rocks) and scrambled back up the big rock to watch the sunrise. It was breezy and cool and so great to sit up there in a sweatshirt (I know, right?!) and watch the sun come up over the plains. Not gonna lie, I felt like I was in the Lion King (BAHHHHHSEEWEEYYNNAAAA MAMABEATSEBABAHHHH)

I really wanted a giraffe to go cantering across the plains- but to no avail. 

Le campsite

A great weekend with great friends that I am thankful for!

Love, Hailey