Here I am

As we were driving last week, the 7 or so hours on the curving mountainous roads from Matadi in the Bas Congo to Kinshasa, I had ample time to gaze out the window. What a show!  Incredible vistas. Breathtaking. Towering palms.  Rolling savanah.  Village after village of little clay brick houses with dried grass for a roof.  People, lots of people, walking along the roadside carrying everything possible on their heads.  Babies strapped on their mother's back.  Women cooking over open fires.  Children playing in the dirt. Scenes rolling by like they were straight out of some documentary!  All parading before my eyes.  At one particular point I couldn't help but be struck by the incredibleness of it all.  I mean, here I am. Seeing all of it with my very own eyes. Living in the midst of it all!   Please understand - I'm not one  to live on the edge.  I'm not a risk taker.  And I'm certainly no hero.  But nonetheless, here I am.  And I couldn't help but think in that moment how very grateful I was to be experiencing this.  Every bit of it.  Sleeping under a mosquito net.  Having Congolese as travelling companions.  Never knowing what might be around the bend or over the next hill. But all of it, with Him and for Him.