Moments

I wonder sometimes where all of my days have gone. The summer days that slip by, the calendars marked with social events and business agendas, the passing of time counted by life events. I've been so busy lately that I feel I haven't had time to soak it in. To take a moment and capture the essence via every single one of my senses and cherish it before moving on to the next. Taking a moment like you would under a blossoming cherry tree in the spring, inhaling deeply, exhaling, letting the imagination run while getting lost in the texture and color of each little flower...

I've finished the majority of my work for the year with my company and am simply working full time at a fab local company until the end of September, as I had originally planned. That way when I leave for Africa, I'm not feeling tied down or distracted when I get there. I want to be free to cherish the moments I encounter like I would with that cherry tree.

I want to meet women and hear their stories of life and rejoice with them as they discover new hope and opportunities. I want to experience through their words and their hearts the tragedies they've encountered and for that to change the way I view my life. Not only do I want to learn, I want to be able to impact these women, even in the smallest of ways. By looking them in the eyes, smiling like I mean it. By listening to their stories in hopes that they feel heard and that they know they matter. I want to be able to teach and offer my talents to them so that they can grow in their own lives.

I want a lot of things for this trip, but I desire that God would fulfill these and glorify Himself. Because that, in the end, is all that will matter. And each of those moments that He offers to me will be sweeter than any cherry tree I stand under.