Staying in it...

In about a week, I will have been in Kenya for an entire year. That is pretty mind blowing, to say the least.

And to be honest, I was feeling pretty good, perhaps even proud, about "making it" a year here. Because let me be honest, for as much as I was so anxious to get to Kenya, there was this small part of me that wondered if I was going to be able to do this.

It is the same feeling you get whenever you start something new. The flutter that comes with the first day of college. The nerves produced when starting a new job. The cluster of emotions that coincide with getting married.

"Can I actually do this? Do I have what it takes?" is a question that always comes to my mind.

Each month that has passed here has kind of been like a check point for me, a gauge of a sort.Two months, going strong. Five months, loving it. Eight months, slightly homesick. Ten months, finally feeling a groove. Almost a year, wondering if I should throw a party.

A friend recently took Erin and I to visit another fellow missionary. The woman, if I guess correctly, was probably between 70 and 80 years old. Give or take, I am horrible at guessing ages.

While having tea with her, I asked a question that is pretty typical to ask when meeting another missionary. I asked her, "So how long have you been in Africa?" I said Africa knowing that she originally served in the Congo before coming to Kenya.

She responded to my question by informing me that she went to the Congo in 1952.

Did she just say 1952?

After I picked my jaw off the floor, I did the math. It came to fifty nine years.

Fifty nine years of life in Africa as a missionary. Wow.

It is easy to feel proud about being here for a year. It is easy to feel like I have what it takes or that I have conquered some extraordinary thing. It is easy to feel like big stuff these days.

But gosh, I am humbled.

Because when I talk to a woman that has served Jesus for fifty nine years, be it in Africa or anywhere in the world, I realize that I have not even left a ripple in the Kingdom yet. I have not even hit the surface.

Yes, my first year in ministry has been beautiful and I think it should be celebrated. But perhaps I should not be celebrating "making it" for a year, but instead be celebrating "staying in it" for another year of service.

It is a gift to have this life. It is a gift to be able to do this. And that is something to throw a party about.

So in a week, I fully expect Erin and I to sit down with our favorite dessert here and blow out some candles in celebration for another year of life in Kenya.

In the words of one of my favorite songs, "It's gonna be wild. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be full of you [Jesus]."

And I am "staying in it."