An Ode to my Ducklings.
Shalom my children…
My ducklings.
My sisters.
Thank you…
For having grace on me.
For loving me in the midst of my mess
and reaching out to me to expose your own messes as well.
Because of this summer, I have legit
been changed for good.
I miss you guys.
I miss the nightly runs to the green castle…
I miss the four hour trips to the green castle with Rugby.
I miss the bat attack every single night and seeing
Gene slowly scooting under the table with pure terror on her face.
I miss studying James and jamming to Will Reagan on my computer.
I
miss opening my eyes during worship and being drawn to tears as I see you guys
worshipping
as if the King of Kings was legit in the room.
I miss concocting the most delicious mocha instant coffee cinnamon lattes.
I miss fighting off snakes and cows and children and homesickness.
I miss our daily Kombi rides and waving enthusiastically at Tom Cruise.
I miss our obsession with guacamole.
I miss the hustle and bustle of the bus rank and telling random men
that we require the gift of 5000 cows to take our hand in marriage.
I miss the warmth of the hut and how after just a week… we called it home.
I miss bucket baths and the water bottle game.
I miss running out of water and the stress of misplacing the keys to the hut.
I miss the damn chickens waking us up every morning.
I miss you guys holding me accountable for my language 😉
I miss fajita night and our fail “let’s feed the community day.”
I miss nightly “boy talk” as we sipped on lukewarm coffee and ate
apple crisps.
I miss that table.
I miss the conversations that went down at that table…
The chairs that gave out…
The tears that were shed…
The laugher that exploded…
The feedback that was given and received…
The meals that were eaten…
The bugs that were smashed…
The books that were read…
The life change that happened.
Oh… that table.
I miss freaking out that we saw lions mating.
I miss the prayers that were lifted from that hut.
I miss the authenticity that came as we sat in the prayer room and called each
other into who the Lord truly made us to be.
I miss nightly chores and the conversations that went down as we burned trash.
I miss walking around the homestead and seeing you all anxiously pursuing Him
on your own.
I miss the orphans…
I miss how all of you filled the “mom” hole in a babies heart.
I miss the heartbreak I would see as we walked away from the care points.
I miss laundry dates.
I miss sister pretending she wasn’t absolutely obsessed with us.
I miss GOGO coming in every night saying “PRAY.” and “THANK YOU
VEDY MUCH”
I miss Tuesday morning breakfast dates with you, Car.
and Laundry dates with you, Sarah.
I miss our Sunday afternoon people watching date at the shop with you, Gene.
Beth, I miss walking through the bush at night with you… petrified we’d be
kidnapped.
I miss sitting and having authentic talks with you, Dani… being challenged by
your very existence.
Jill, I miss our ice cream dates and random one-on-ones that the Lord blew us
up with.
I miss the moment that we found ice cream in the bush and Carly nearly wept… (One of those chocolate strawberry mountain
moments)
I miss the first couple of nights there that we were being messed with by Satan
and we’d all in unison fall on our faces asking for His presence and peace.
I miss painting our nails and eating chocolate and calling it “team
time.”
I miss the morning that we all went crazy and caught goats and chickens.
I miss the morning we walked outside to a cow being brutally butchered…
and then Carly and Rugby proceed to join the murder.
I miss the multiple times we were peed on…
I miss the freezing Monday mornings with Lelo and our makeshift 4th of July.
I miss the community stomach virus that we partook in…
people vomited and…
I miss passing my computer around and forcing you guys to write blogs…
Only to get them back to realize you are all freaking legit writers.
I miss looking over to Gene’s bed every morning and seeing her JAMMING to Beyonce as she applies her sassy lipstick.
I miss walking into the Kitchen and seeing Sarah whipping up something
delicious from nothing.
I miss walking into the kitchen and finding Danielle sobbing because the Lord
is so big and so real.
I miss Rugby’s ridiculous jokes and hilarious antics.
I miss Hill and her full blown contagious desire to be radically changed.
I miss Carlilse’s obsession with Swaziland and soccer and Fizzys and just… Life.
I miss a lot.
I don’t know how to put it into words…
It was an incredible summer and I am so thankful I was given you all as a team.
I’m thankful that I was chiseled and molded and reconstructed.
I’m thankful that I was given the space to weep and cry and be ridiculous
without being judged.
It was a safe place, and I am thankful.
I love you all more than life.
Don’t lose the passion and don’t let anyone tell you that you’re made for the
chill American life… because you’re not.
It aint happenin.
I expect Zolacke and Joy and Phetsile and Speeway to all be adopted…
As well as the 14,000 other babies we fell hard for. 
Overall, I am confident that team Struggle Bus will change the world.
Let’s do this.
Shop shop.
