just the beginning

Day three in Rwanda has come and gone and from the very minute that I stepped off the plane life has been different. Life is simple. It's a different routine than what I'm used to and I'm having to re-learn how and where to buy certain things, how to communicate, how to travel, how to get from work to home and from home to work, and even how to shower. But it's all simple. There aren't many distractions and I'm a huge fan of that. One thing I have noticed is that such a drastic change in lifestyle has really created a spirit of thankfulness and rejoicing. It's the littlest things that bring a smile to my face and it's by living here that I see how much of my daily life I have to be thankful about:

I rejoice because it rained today.
I rejoice because the baby that I can hear crying beneath my window has a roof over his head in the rain.
I rejoice because we have running water.
I rejoice that I was able to find wire and nails to hang a shower curtain. 
I rejoice because the radio that our neighbor likes to play at odd hours of the night beneath my window will play an occasional country song (it brings an even bigger smile to my face to hear Rwandans try to sing country music).
I rejoice because the boys at the Dream Center were able to put together their very own "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" book as a craft...and they just learned how to use scissors and glue.
I rejoice because the church in Rwanda is alive. 
I rejoice because God is the Great Provider every day for most of the people I see and meet.
I rejoice because God has allowed me to live in one of the greatest places on earth, despite what it might look like from the outside.

What I'm really excited about is the fact that this one year in Rwanda isn't just some short-term adventure that will come and fade away. This is just the beginning. God is just now moving into motion what He gave me a passion for four years ago: to make His name known and praised in Central Eastern Africa. I'm excited because He will work in ways I can't begin to imagine. I'm excited because I'm right where I'm supposed to be. My life isn't being put on pause for a year. For me, this is just the beginning of my life. This is but a taste of what is to come. Tonight, I go to bed with a smile on my face because I am living in Rwanda with the chance to love serve His people and those that have yet to know Him.

The view of Rwanda from my apartment