Rest

CSB is out on break, RMS (our small missionary kid school) is out for the summer and we are just fresh from a week long retreat/seminar focused on Repentance and Rest. I love the drive over the mountains. If we leave early enough in the morning, the monkeys are still gathered along the road as we drive through the pass that seperates Bundibugyo from the rest of the country. The kids gaze out the window searching for the black and white colubus monkeys, or their cousins.. the red tails. This time we also passed a large troop of baboons crossing the road. Each of them has a pointy face/snout that reminds me of a german shepard. Usually the biggest male snarls in a similar protective fashion as I remind the kids to roll up the windows as we pass. The road twists and turns, the vegetation is lush, the drop off the road severe (no guard rails!) and the view out over Congo breathtaking. There is always a bit of decompression that happens for me personally as we leave our home here and head back out to places with running hot water, soft beds, and yummy food prepared by other people. We pack our nicest clothes, even bathing suits and look forward to some time away from the daily grind of life here.
This time we headed a full day's drive to the other side of the country. A place we enjoy in Jinja called the Kingfisher. Our time there was both wonderful and deeply challenging. A time to grieve as we look towards all types of transition for our team in the near future. A time to process the many different tramas of this summer. So much has happened on the heels of each other that the opportunity to sit down, be quiet and just think brough forth a deep wealth of pain, and overwhelming exhaustion. We needed a safe place to process and safe people to process with. Three folks from World Harvest led us in week long counseling sessions that allowed us to begin to explore our time here in BGO, our relationships with our team, and our love for and intimacy with God. Wonderful and yet brutal as we examine our lives and take stock of where deep change needs to filter in.