Rainy Season in Rwanda - Lesson #1

I'm thankful for the rains in LA which have eased me back into southern California life. I had come to delight in and look forward to the daily thunder and lightning storms that occasionally took us completely off guard, sending us scurrying for cover, and at other times found us resting quietly inside our guest house, enjoying conversation and food while listening to the pounding of the rain on our windows and roof. Some of my sweetest memories from Kibuye were made sitting close to a window and enjoying the sights and sounds of the weather! I found myself saying more than once during these storms, "This is all I have wanted to do for so long..." An afternoon or evening free from obligation, listening to the sound of rain coming down hard on the roof above my head and remembering the beauty and power of our God. What a peaceful and joyful time. I'm currently learning how to keep moments like that alive in my life as I face a busy semester ahead, full of commitments, to-do lists, expectations, and goals. Praying that peace and stillness would surround me as I move forward...because our God is as beautiful and powerful here in the suburbs of LA as he is in the villages of Rwanda.

There's something special and powerful about carrying around a camera. Something about my perspective drastically changes when I am trying to capture my life on film (or a digital memory card, as it were...). Somehow I am more attentive to detail and to beauty. My eyes are open for moments to capture and to remember. While in Rwanda, I found myself overwhelmed with opportunity, flooded with beauty that I was desperate to capture on some small scale and to remember for as long as possible. A futile attempt, really. There is something glorious about an African sunset over the water that can't be captured in a photo. I couldn't bottle up all of creation singing together in those moments... After the first few days of scrambling to remember and to capture the essence of the beauty of Rwanda, I let my heart rest, knowing that the bright and brilliant colors reflecting from the sky to the waters and hitting my eyes were not going to fade away forever. This was not the last sunset I would see. I could rest because I knew the God who was painting that sky. And I knew that someday I would see his face--which is more beautiful and brilliant than any of the sunsets or sunrises or thunder and lightning storms.

I am deeply grateful that God has given me eyes and a heart that are attentive just as if I were carrying around a camera with me. I don't have to fearfully capture every moment, trying to document a sliver of beauty that will never show its face again. I have the joy and the freedom of seeing and recognizing the glorious beauty of my God in everything that he has made, confident that Beauty Himself will not cease to show His face in this world until He has revealed Himself fully to those who know Him. It is in these moments of quiet recognition that I know that I am seeing, knowing, and loving my God more deeply all while loosening my grip on the things of this world that are slowly fading and will in an instant slip away into darkness. I have the freedom to enjoy the unchanging beauty and wonder of my God in the ever-changing things that he has made.

There is no comfort for me in a sunset alone. After only minutes of brilliant color and light, the sun will inevitably slip below the horizon, and night will come. The quiet peace of that special moment will be gone. But there is unshakable comfort in knowing the God who paints the skies. There is lasting peace that only grows with the reminder of his beauty and power, of his unchanging nature in the midst of the dimming day.

Worship God now. Don't wait to remember his beauty and power and faithfulness and promises at a later day. Remember and enjoy them now. Don't take this to mean that capturing the beauty of God's creation in photos is in any way bad or wrong, because these can be true testaments to the work of God in the past and His faithfulness for the future. God commands us to set up altars of remembrance so that our our foggy memories will retain clear pictures of His faithfulness and goodness. But don't hide behind the camera, attempting to document sunshine to pull out and cling to on the rainy days. Enjoy the warmth and light of the sunshine now. Remember that it is God who keeps the sun burning hot...but not too hot so as to consume us. Enjoy and worship Him now, and remember in future days that God is also in the rain, watering and bringing life to a lifeless world. His beauty doesn't escape us when the clouds veil the sun.

So keep your "camera" eyes and heart peeled for the unique and glorious ways He will inevitably show up in your life today. Savor them, and be glad when you see a glimpse of His face...knowing that one day you will look on Him and behold the beauty and glory of his countenance, and it will never fade away.