I have officially moved on from Malawi, and now call Tanzania my home. The first thing I noticed while trekking (a total of 36 hours on an African bus) through Tanzania were the sunflowers… amidst fields of corn or beside a mud shack.
These sunflowers demanded attention from every eye that passed. These bold statements yelled that, “this place matters!” or “see this beauty I portray”. The undeniable shock I felt in seeing not one, but many and many randomly placed sunflowers lingered in my mind for the following minutes, into hours.
How odd does it seem that something so beautiful as a bright yellow sunflower bursting forth in life maintain life and thrive next to a dull brown hut made of mud and straw.
Now clearly, to all my plant-loving friends out there, plants do not have eyes. Nor do they falter when a noticeable change in ascetics begins.
The beauty in these flowers lied not on who they were as an individual, but rather what they held in contrast. This thought made me feel small.
I am an imperfect, flawed, mud brown hut. There could be many of me, all made hastily and without much thought, or so the world tells me. The flower bursting forth in life, radiating breath through each ray colored petal is my savior. Next to Him I may seem small and not enough, I may look all the darker in His breathtaking light.
Luckily for this mud hut, that’s not the case. His light shines on me, captivating eyes as they go by. He, the sun colored son calls attention to the me I am made through Him.
On my own I am simply the mud hut. Dull, simple and unchanging. The sunflower he has planted on my heart grows through Him daily. Each day brightening up the hut next door.
My prayer for Tanzania is that I am not seen, but that His words are my words, His actions mine and that His light would emanate through me.
Sorry to all back home going through winter, I’m sure it’s not easy to read about these beautiful flowers when you are in the midst of cold and snow! If it makes you feel any better… nope, I can’t think of anything to complain about! Haha
As far as legistics go, we are in Singida, Tanzania (look it up!) staying in a very nice house. It is just our team there, we do not have a host family living with us, but the pastor, his wife and children are often there throughout the day. We will remain in Tanzania for a little less than three weeks, then spend the remaining month and a half in Uganda. Prayers are much needed and appriciated!
God bless & I pray that you would find yourself as a hut surrounded by the brightest sunflowers you have ever witnessed!
