Our first day in Manzini

Today we went to our first care point in manzini! One thing that touched my heart beyond words was watching a little girl sit on my squad mate Alisha’s lap and the little girl was eating her porridge with her fingers and after every bite she would turn around to Alisha and smile and Alisha would kiss her forehead and she did that for all of her food.

God is so good he has been showing me so much love and joy in simple small things here. I feel like I’ve always known how lucky and blessed a lot of us have it…but to just see the pure joy on the little girls face and something so simple as forehead kisses after every bite… it was so heartwarming and also really made me think about my life and how much I have taken for granted and I was overwhelmed with a sense of joy and peace and felt more humbled than I ever have in my whole life… God is so good… I am constantly reminded of his beauty and how much I take for granted… how much I forget to thank him… for the small things for the big thing and everything in between!
Romans 12:12  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

I have spent so much time caught up in just surviving and living my life for me and not being grateful and thankful…just spending one day with the kids here and to see how they live and how a normal day is for them we hiked 3 miles in the hot sun on a pretty rough walking path to bring rice to a family and it was hottt! The sweat that was just pouring off of us was crazy… and families and kids make that walk and then some multiple times a day wether it’s to go to school or work or the store.. they do it with a smile on their faces! I don’t think I could do that hike every day multiple times a day…but they don’t have the option… that is their life.

A lot of us got sunburnt our first day out at the care points… a lot of the kids by the end of the day were pointing to my skin and would say white… red… I laughed and said yes.. the sun burnt my skin… then they would look shocked and kind of laugh…I don’t understand a lot of what they are saying most of the time but with patience and trying to ask questions and lots of pointing and pulling later I usually can understand what they were saying or wanting or asking… I would say 80% of the time it was them wanting us to play with them!! They love to copy what we do so if we make a click noise with our mouths and then poke their nose at the same time they giggle and then make a click noise with their mouths and poke our nose at the same time and they would do that for hours!!! They LOVE to braid and play with our hair! I got so much joy from such small things.. we get so caught up in our daily lives and “working to live” we forget to STOP and smell the flowers and be In every moment and be thankful.
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. 

That’s something I’ve been praying about multiple times a day… God help me to be more thankful and more present and more kind and patient… it’s so easy to forget and be caught up in worrying about the past or the future or quick to get angry or whatever it is for you…

I would love to encourage you to just take some time this week like me and stop and really look around at everything in your life, and your friends and family and just be grateful and truly thankful for them.. even something as small as a fork or spoon… and really take some time to pray and thank God! We have SO much to be thankful for.. God is so good.. today I am thankful for another day of life and for this incredible opportunity to help others I feel so blessed and grateful… I find myself filled with an overwhelming love and joy from God today… he IS LOVE!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.