and there was another of the world's most beautiful sunsets, because the dust covered the sun + the rays hit the water + bounced around + the lighting was perfect + i have over a hundred pictures to prove it.  but i'll leave you with this handful of my favorites, plus some just because, and save the others for when i'm feeling generous, because i've discovered that i'm stingy with pretty pictures.  it's true.  

so i got charged by an elephant.  twice.  and it was one of the most exhilarating, terrifyingly awesome things i've ever experienced.  and when they screamed at us, we screamed at mom to drive on and get us away from the amazing, sixteen ton animal that was chasing us away from her baby.  and we held onto the top of the car and my shutter finger was going a million clicks a second and yet it seemed that i was still unable to capture the sheer ginormousness of this beautiful creature.  and i marveled a lot, because suddenly, here before you are these animals.  giant and bizarre and grey in all of their baggy skin and flailing trunks.   with the tiny elephants grabbing their mother's tails and following them through the tall grass like i only thought they did in jungle book.  

and we drove kilometer after kilometer on dusty, dry roads in the middle of nowhere.  straining our eyes for what little natural wildlife is left here.  and we got to see it raw and natural, ever though mom would have been a little more comfortable if there was some sort of a barrier between where we were sleeping and the lake full of crocs.  

there were birds the color of neon sharpies and others of dirt.  so we dodged tree limbs from our perch atop the car and bruised our legs from scraping branches, and it was wonderful. 

then there was a rosy sunrise that filtered through the dust blanket that had settled over the earth.   we climbed a mountain, that looked more like an ant hill, and watched the sun wake and spread its light over the dark earth.  as far as the eye could see was brush and grass and trees, so different than those normal to me, and yet in their own rugged, tired, brown way: they were beautiful. 

isn't it amazing the diversity that He has created?  each so individual and unique, and yet still completely perfect by design.  His glorious creation was all around us, rugged and natural.   He creates mountains and plains, deserts and rain forests, fish and elephants.  and he says that they are all good. 

yeah, it was hot and filled with sunscreen, ugly sunhats and mass quantities of nasty flies.  but those were nothing because we had twenty hours free and alone in His creation, and fellowship with dear, dear friends who had traveled half-way around the world to see us.  and i got a sunset that felt like it was painted just for me… 

life has been full with visitors (from the states!) and village trips and hundred of pictures and editing + weeding through those pictures (that seem to be multiplying) and packing and unpacking and short notice french lessons and scary amounts of time in the car and overplayed playlists.  

so i'm exhausted and full and ready for a long time of sleep.  but it's been great and i've got pictures to prove it.  and hopefully something else that will make an appearance before the first month is out.  and i think that the fact that the moon decided to visit during the day is pretty cool… 

four days, two churches, five services, nine baptisms, four meals and countless hours of visiting.  

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we spent time that we would have been using to sleep, crammed into a small, cinderblock church full of dust and people and small light and dust.  

we watched as friends and brothers and sisters in Christ become new creations as they openly showed their love and devotion for Christ by being born again.

dust again filled one church, and then another as Christ was worshipped again by his people.  not as we would with bowed heads and quiet prayers but with the stomping of feet, clapping of hands and shouting praises to the Lord on high.  

meals were shared and kilos of rice were eaten.  practically the whole village suddenly appeared when the word got that food would be available… 

__

christmas, like most things, looks different here.  instead of a time of rest and reprieve, it's a time of pouring out.  but He is using new things to fill me up, and water my roots as i continue to settle into the place where He has me.  

 

we went to the market and bought baskets for organizing stuff and beautiful pagnè that i am super excited about and vegetables and bread, just mom and i and it was so, so nice.  taking time to just go and be, even when we were just getting stuff done that we needed to.  taking the time to make it a get to, instead of a have to.  

then we came home & i worked on school until i followed mom outside and then we spent the next three hours shelling a kilo or two of peanuts (painful) with our neighbor.  and we talked about cooking and showers and bedtime and cars and a bunch of other things.  all the while, i was making faces at the kids and trying to figure out which babies were scared of me and which ones just laughed or stared back at me with big eyes. 

now mind you, our "talking" was a lot of me looking at mom for an explanation of what the jula meant and when she didn't know it, we would ask in french.  and then there would be talk in between the other ladies in jula, and then in french, and mom and i would try to talk it out in english to understand, and then we would start all over again.  a long, complicated dance that sometimes flows and other times, it just doesn't.  but we still talk and laugh and learn to live life with one another.  

and at the end of the day, my fingers are red and sore, and my body feels drained from the sun's merciless heat, but i am content.  because this is where He has me and there is no better place to be than in the center of His plan for my life.  

i'm pretty sure that road trips feel the same no matter what state or country or continent you live in.  open road and vehicles appearing on the horizon and playlists on repeat are a necessity.  

now, i've long since been unable to imagine what it would be like to be on roads that are smooth and without potholes the size of small vehicles.

and i'm pretty sure that not having goats, dogs, chickens, sheep & donkeys darting in and amongst the motos, cars, bikes, walkers and bush taxis would make drives rather boring.  

also sometimes it would be nice if there was a fast food restaurant to swing through and a public toilet to use..  

but i love road trips here and driving across this colorado sized country… and it's not just because our car has an air conditioner.