I am about half way through my trip to Africa and I have come undone. What a great and also painful place to be. There is so much going on in my life personally that I am trying to manage in the background and in the foreground I am confronted daily with how much bigger than me life is.
I have seen amazing things. Stories of resilience and strength. I have also seen the worst of humanity. The more I see, the more I wrestle with how I fit. I can never watch life like it’s a show on TV. I have never been a sit on the bench person. I want the world to be better because I have been in it, and that doesn’t happen by not getting your hands dirty.
I have learned that effectiveness happens when you are strategic about the work you do. There is so much that is possible and if more people would even do SOMETHING, the world would be a significantly different place. They say 20% of people do 80% of the work. So figuring out where the best place is to invest my time and resources is important but also a great challenge because the needs seem never ending- not just in Africa, but in every country in the world. Developed countries like to pretend they have it all together, but reality is that there are huge issues in those countries as well – they just have a fancier ball gown to wear to the prom to cover the problems.
I think it’s fitting right now to be wrestling with where I fit on the global stage when there will be so many changes in my life when I get back home. It’s time again to turn a page and write a new chapter. Blank pages can be scary but I’ve stared them down before and ended up writing great adventures. This will be no different. The same God who was with me then is with me now and His love for me hasn’t changed. Below are lyrics to the song we sang in church last Sunday. They are reverberating through my mind and heart.
Our God
Water You turned into wine
Opened the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like you
None like you
Into the darkness You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There`s No one like you
None like you
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if Our God is for us, then who can ever stop us?
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
Then what can stand against?
Then what can stand against?
Amanda Carrasco 
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