These past couple days have been a whirlwind.  Here are a few highlights.

We met with a group of people who are working with agriculture here in Senegal and one guy who is visiting from Chicago who is involved in urban agriculture (basically planting gardens in the middle of the city)

The group traveling to the South part of Senegal left and Keri and I stayed behind.

We swam at Pink Lake.  It is so salty that you can easily float with no effort at all.

We drank Ataya with Djibi and two German girls, Anna and Elena, that are staying at Herma’s before going back home.  One of them is a carpenter and wowed the boys at the shop with her skill in making an Adirondack chair.

We ate dinner at a very nice German lady’s house here that Herma knows.  She made soup and an amazing beef and vegetable dish and then whipped up yogurt and cream until it was a mousse consistency and then you poured a fruit sauce on it.  Very delicious.

All in all the trip is going well.  I am very ready to be home and be with my family.  I think about all the things I want to do when I get back.  New foods to try and how to experience some of the same kinds of relationship building activities.  It has been a blessing to eat breakfast every morning and afterwards read in the Bible.  We finished up Luke and are in John at the moment.  Depending on the company also depends on what language you hear the Bible read in.

But, is there more?  Have I experienced all I “should”?

I’ve found myself caring less and less about the language barrier with the people here.  Of course, I’m always trying to learn new phrases and customs that help me relate with those around me.  But, when I try to focus on a conversation that is not directed at me, my mind tends to wander or I strike up a conversation with someone I can understand.  I always have people around me who can speak enough English for me to translate.  Therefore, it is comforting to know that if there is a question I need to answer or knowledge that I need to have, there is someone willing to converse with me in the same language.

Perhaps, there is some truth with how God speaks to me as well.  Maybe I see people around me in relationship with God and I see how he is working in their life or leading them in a certain direction.  Do I have enough trust and faith to wait for God to talk to me directly?  I should.

There are a handful of times when God speaks to a group of people; the writing on the wall and God speaking to the people and telling them that Jesus is his son in whom he is well pleased.  Most other times, the speaking comes one on one.  Cain, Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Elijah, Mary, Joseph, Saul, etc.  I realize that I enjoy the passages more that have a specific call.  If God asked me to take my family to Egypt, I would.  If he asked me to liberate my people, I would.  But how would I feel if he said that I needed to move to a land he would show me?  Would I respond, “That’s not specific enough, God.  You gotta do better than that for me to follow.”

I have talked with many people and always gave the advice that when you seek the Lord, He will never let you down and never let you miss something you’re supposed to know.  Easy to say, tough to live out.  Yet, I am still comforted because I still trust that advice.

In a recent blog by Ann Voskamp, she says, “God didn’t give Abraham a map.  He gave him a relationship.”  Rules are easy.  They are cut and dry … black and white … right or wrong.  Relationships are messy.  Sometimes up, sometimes down … laid back or intense … you never know what tomorrow might bring except that when you are in relationship with Jesus, it’s the trust that’s comforting in knowing that he cares for you regardless of the circumstances.

Have I missed something yet?  I doubt it.  I look to him everyday for guidance.  Perhaps we are at an oasis and he’s letting me rest.  If so, then I welcome it.  When he says it’s time to move and the clouds are no longer covering the water I was drinking yesterday, then I will pack up my tent and go to the land that He shows me.

I was finally able to help in the kitchen tonight after dinner.  There is usually a barrage of people that are moving and cleaning and washing and I always feel bad for not helping.  Tonight it was just Mark and Herma and me.  I washed and Mark dried and we talked about our kids.  Was very nice.

Brandon, who is the “president” of Away, got here this morning and we had a great talk.  He, Keri, and I played cards and we got to learn about him and who he is.  It was a quiet moment in the storm of activity that usually takes place in this “monkey” filled environment.

No drafting was done today.  Dany signed off on the plan that was drawn so I started the design part of the new catalog.  I have some good ideas so we’ll see how they turn out.  In doing that, Keri and I went through all the pictures she has taken and sorted and categorized them into what we can use and what needs to be taken again.

Other than that, the day was pretty laid back and relaxing.  Tomorrow and Sunday should be pretty laid back too.  Dany, Brandon, Mark, Wendell, Jarrod, and some of the boys are heading into Southern Senegal to visit the village that Brandon used to live in when he was in the Peace Corps.  Keri and I are going to kick it here in Malika and make some headway on the catalog and hopefully start getting some good information about the artisans who make the amazing products here.

Today was another day of drafting.  No chopping down trees or anything but very productive.  I think we have a good first level of the building.  Took some prodding from Dany but every little bit of information I get turns out to be a gem of information.

There is a lady that comes by every once in a while and she’s been here for 40 years translating the Old Testament into Wolof.  She has an amazing story but moving on, she sat next to me in Herma’s living room and was trying to get connected to the internet.  Luckily, she was sitting in the right spot.  She started to get frustrated and I asked her if she wanted help.  She handed me her laptop and in 1 minute I was able to connect her.

Side note: For those of you that don’t know, I can usually fix a technical problem within a short amount of time, especially for Keely.  She’ll try to log into a site and, after several failed attempts, call me from downstairs.  She will either try again or hand me the device and I will log in right away.  This has happened on numerous occasions.  However, I have been pleasantly surprised to see those that don’t consider themselves technological fix issues when I’m stumped.  (Yes, Kim Cannedy, I’m referring to you!  =)

Anyway, my gifts are certainly limited, but what I have … I offer.  Jarrod, a new found friend of Dany who has been here for about 5 months helping with the audio recordings of the Monkeys and also in the medical clinic in Dakar, was helping me today as I finished up the drawings for the building.  We were talking specifically and I found it interesting that where my talents stopped there was Jarrod nearby to provide exactly what I needed.  Because of Jarrod’s talents in the medical and music field, he was able to help me plan out the clinic portion as well as the recording studio; which evidently were the last two pieces of the puzzle that needed finished.

It amazes me when I think of how God works and brings talents together in different packages.  Perhaps God has plans for you as a complete individual and not just one of your gifts.  Thank the LORD for who you are as a complete person in Jesus Christ and let Him work through you for His glory and you’ll never be sorry.

Prologue:  I have a great picture of Dany and his mom for this post but the internet is acting weird so I’m going to get it later once I publish.  happy reading.

Woke up today in a great mood.  The headache I had last night was completely gone which was a great thing.  Had a good breakfast and started on the drafting project.  Got some great information on the building that I didn’t have the other days.

Once I got done with the drawings I got a hatchet from Herma and some gloves from one of the boys in the shop.  Then I started on tearing down the foliage in the front of the compound.  We need to be able to set some stakes for the new building tomorrow and it was impossible to get to the wall to take measurements.  I started working on cutting down all the branches and then one of the other guys came to help.  We tore down everything and then raked it all into a big pile.  My arms and legs have scratches all over them, but I call them battle scars and roar like a lion to make myself feel more manly.

It’s very exciting to see the changes that are going on in front of my eyes to get this project going.  Drafting is good.  Chopping and raking is good.  What really is exciting is to hear Dany talk about his vision for the Monkeys, the compound, Aywa, etc.  Sometimes I underestimate Dany and his fervent desire to help the people here and make a better life for them.  He has built relationships and has that level of trust with the guys in the shop and also with the people around him outside the compound.

I think when I sat and talked to Dany, I was very judgmental.  I saw him with a bunch of stubble and he talks in, what seemed to me, a very uneducated style.  Boy was I ever wrong.  Dany grew up in the same culture I’m visiting now.  He grew up with these people and has integrated their culture into his own style.  He is very different in the fact that he has an incredible entrepreneurial spirit.

Even now while I’m drafting the plans for this building I’m thinking that there are only going to be 2 stories; the main floor to house the shops and the second floor as a dorm for the boys.  Once I start talking to him today, he tells me his plan is to go three stories high!!!  Like I said, I underestimate Dany sometimes.  He tells me that he’s going to be incorporating his plans for Aywa into the building by housing the engines for his projects there too.  He’s taking a trip to some of the jatropha plantations here in Senegal that will fuel the engines.  His workshop back home is his haven to get away from the “civilized” world and think.

Dany is definitely a thinker and a visionary.  He can cast a vision that would get anyone excited.  Most people I know that Dany invites to Africa come.  Some of them twice.  =)  Some with some hesitation but once you stay here, it gets in your blood and you want everyone to experience it.  I want my wife and kids to be with me so bad.  To have, not only the community, but the family experience at well is certainly on my bucket list.  Julie has asked several times how old she has to be when she can come with me.  My answer will probably always be, “Ask your mom.”

I was talking to Wendell today about Dany, too.  Wendell is a friend of Dany’s when he moved back to the States.  Wendell is from Ethiopia and believes with all his heart that the ark of the covenant is in Ethiopia.  Very interesting topic and you should ask him about it sometime.  I digress.  Anyway, I see Dany as being only part of the puzzle.  He delegates very well to people and when they catch the vision, they get excited themselves.  I wonder if Dany would do well with a protoge; someone who could complete Dany and be the other puzzle piece.  That someone would need to be a free spirit and able to not only understand the vision that Dany has but also to be able to know the steps to put it into action.  Imagine two people walking through a jungle and needing to get to a certain point.  Dany is holding the map and knows the destination.  The other person is wearing the backpack, holding a machete in their hand ready for marching orders.

Perhaps, I’m wrong.  Perhaps Dany already has this person or maybe that “person” is many people.  These are just my own thoughts.  I think about my own life and how my wife and I fit so well together.  Although the phrase has become cliche, I can say with all honesty that, “she completes me.”  I guess I wish that everyone knew that kind of feeling.