It has been soooo long since I have posted, and I am SO sorry! Changing schedules, late nights, and power outages have REALLY cramped my blogging style! haha
Well, there is a lot to talk about so I'm going to start with the stuff furthest back, then work my way up to the more current stuff. Enjoy!
Two weeks ago, I was amazingly blessed with the opportunity to go on a safari in Uganda. Coming here, I knew I would be able to go on a safari, but I was a little bummed knowing I would have to go by myself. Well, to say that the Lord "knows" me is an understatement, because not only did I get to go on a safari, but the Lord crossed my path with an amazing young lady named Jessica. The director of her organization (an orphanage) is very good friends with the director of my organization. We clicked instantly. The first 5 minutes we spent with each other (she came to help out at one of our clinics), I knew I was going to love her. She is SO filled with the Holy Spirit, you can basically taste it when you're around her. I loved spending time with her at our clinic, but I was bummed we weren't really going to be able to spend any more time together.. Then turns out she was wanting to go on a safari, but didn't have anyone to go with! OH I love the ways that the Lord works! I was so blessed to share the amazing experience of seeing God's creation with this fantastic girl, and to be able to TALK about and wonder at God's creation together was unforgettable.
Skipping backwards a bit to before the safari.. on my drive from Kampala to the rest camp in Murchison Falls.. Most drives in Uganda...ney..ALL drives in Uganda, no matter how long or how short, are very bumpy, and very loud. I was in a 9 passenger van with no shocks in the seats, and only the windows as air conditioning. Needless to say, it was a very LOUD 7 hour drive, and people didn't really get much talking in. While this was a tad of a bummer, I didn't really mind, because one of my favorite things to do here is just look out the windows and watch the untouched, beautiful landscape fly by me. My seating position in the van was not fortunate enough to be by a window that wasn't broken, so I didn't really get a whole lot of air blown on me. I mainly just tried to lean my head against the window and either watch outside or just close my eyes for distraction from the heat. At one point during the drive, I had my eyes closed and my head against the window. All of a sudden a very soft, very light breeze blew over my face. Right when it hit my face, I just totally felt like it was the Holy Spirit trying to get my attention. It was so soft and so sweet. It felt so good! I opened my eyes, and the breeze stopped. KNOWING at that point it was the Lord, I said to the Lord "Lord! That felt so good!! Make it happen again!" And as clear as day, the Lord answered "Okay, Gracie.. Close your eyes." I closed them, and it happened again! That light, sweet breeze just came sweeping across my face. It was so soft, yet so powerful, I can't even describe it. It was just totally the presence of the Lord there with me. Growing up in the church and youth group, etc, I'd always heard the concept of the Lord being a romantic, and how he is so loving- like in a romantic way. I believed this was true, but I'd never actually experienced it before, and never really understood it.. not until that drive! The Lord really just spoke to me during that drive in a way I'd never heard before. He was so sweet, as if he was actually whispering the sweetest, most captivating things in my ear. He would say "Gracie, close your eyes...now open them." I would open them, and see the most breathtakingly beautiful scenes.. A lot of Uganda kind of looks the same.. a lot of green..random trees and random bushes everywhere.. But when I'd open my eyes, it was something completely different than I'd seen before..as if He put them there JUST for me to see.. as weird as that sounds. I've always loved the Lord, but that day I learned how to be IN love with the Lord.. and how much He is IN love with me.. which I had never realized before. It was the most REAL encounter I'd ever had with the Lord, and the amazing feeling. He's so charming! The creator of the universe is in to me! haha.. something I'd never experienced before. The Lord really is so amazing how He reveals things to me differently at different times. He just captivated me in a way that had never happened before. I'm praying that every day he recaptures my heart, and takes my breath away. So far, it's worked!
Stay tuned tomorrow for more about the safari! Most of it is written out, but I am so exhausted I can't finish it! It WILL be posted by tomorrow!! Stay tuned :)
Gracie
No comments:
Post a Comment