Days Twelve and Thirteen: Home and Our Children

We said goodbye to our new friends at the airport in Manzini. We prayed for each other and the children of Mhlosheni, hugged each other, and parted.

For forty hours we sat on airplanes, watched sunrises and sunsets again, and loitered in airports. Then we finally arrived home. Our Mhlosheni journey was over.

Or was it?

Fourteen days have passed since we came back home. For my part, I’m still wondering what to do with this experience. How can I keep the faces of the children of Mhlosheni in the forefront of my mind? How can I keep Nokuphila and Lhomkosi and hundreds of needy children in my heart and in my prayers, even as the world tries to seep back into me and reclaim my life?

I have a confession to make: I’m more concerned just now with my own future than with theirs.

One week before I went to Swaziland I discovered that I’d need to find a new job. I almost didn’t go to Africa. My rational mind kept telling me that the clock was ticking, that I needed to find a new place to work more than I needed to experience our family in Swaziland, and that I needed to abandon any pretensions or higher ideals and get on with the business of working and living and earning.

But thanks to Joie and the prayers and urgings of my family at CRCC, I went on the trip. I successfully pushed the great wad of FUD that was my work situation (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) into the background and opened my eyes to whatever I might experience.

As we flew back the work situation came more and more to mind. But it is what it is and I’m off interviewing tomorrow. I'm meeting with a fantastic company that I’ve been part of before, but nothing's guaranteed and there are several hurdles in the way (relocation?). I believe something will work out.

To keep the faces of our children in Mhlosheni as vivid as possible I’ve made the collage at the top of this post. It will be my computer’s new wallpaper, and will hopefully keep me in mind of what is real.

Our Mhlosheni journey has just begun. We’ve barely begun to make sense of the notes and lyrics and rhythms of Mhlosheni’s song. This was only the first trip. There will be a second, and perhaps a third and a fourth.

Many more people from CRCC will hear the laughter of our children in Mhlosheni. Many more people will experience the joy and the heartbreak and the undiminished hope that characterizes our family in Africa.

If your heart is telling you that you might be one of them, stop and listen.