Thursday, October 1, 2009

Challenging Wallpaper

Many of you know that I had the extreme fortune to be able to travel and serve in Malawi this summer. I have barely even begun to process that experience but suffice it to say, it was astonishing. Yes, there is a theme going here if you’ve read my previous two blogs. When I first got back, this is the picture that I put up as the wall paper on my laptop.

Why? Well, it looks like wallpaper. It is beautiful, soothing, easy. It evokes a tropical paradise, but a tropical paradise is not the experience that I had of Africa. Why was I using this picture to remind me of my time there?

A couple of weeks ago, I changed that picture to this one:


I love this little girl, I really do. I don’t know her name, we don’t speak each other’s language, I don’t know the story behind those eyes. But every day she speaks to me and I feel something inside. And if I really look back into her eyes (it is a difficult gaze to meet) a tear rises up in my own.

I have been trying very hard to put words to the experiences that I had in Africa and they all fall flat in the face of what I feel. Perhaps it is not time to say anything yet. I do have one poem that has come that I will share tomorrow. Stay tuned!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautful. The little girl...your words...the feeling it left me with.

Beth Knight said...

Rebecca - her eyes tell a global story and your words are poignant. I feel this precious child's deep call touch my own soul as I gaze at her. Thank you for sharing as you feel led about your trip. I know you will grace us all as you do share more...

Suz said...

Rebecca,
Anxious to hear more about this...or will I find it in your blog? I am so unaware...
S.

Rebecca Johnson said...

Beth and Nichol,
Thank you for helping me to make that journey with Africa. : )

Suz, Please see my Africa blog. I sent you a link. : )